Subterlabor
by Monkey in a Jump Suit
Summary: All he'd wanted was a chance to start afresh, a break from the continuous monotony that had pervaded his life. However, a chance encounter with a dying demon may be just what he'd been looking for all along. AU/OC
1. Chapter 1

~ Chapter 1 ~

_subterlabor: to glide away, flow under, slip away, escape_

* * *

It was the year 1997 and most of the Wizarding world of Britain was still left reeling from the ultimate and final defeat of one Tom Marvalo Riddle, more commonly known as "Lord Voldemort". The man (while certainly certifiable and more than a little unpleasant) had been widely acknowledged as the most powerful Dark Wizard to emerge in over a century so it was of little surprise that his downfall became such a far-reaching event. His name, once a moniker so feared and reviled that people hesitated to even speak it aloud, had become a popular buzzword on the lips of the media.

While the people in the streets were forming impromptu parties and hugging everyone they could get their arms around, few people stopped to mourn the many souls that had perished in the struggle against the insane wizard. They were the _true (_and often forgotten) heroes who had died so that others could live and fight on. And without them, even Harry Potter would have stood very little chance of eventually defeating the deranged man.

Even fewer _still_ looked to the past that had allowed someone like Lord Voldemort to rise to power (and with such worrying speed and ease, too), despite the many years of hardship it had taken to finally down the man. And only a small minority saw the frightening similarities that had begun to emerge in the Wizarding world of today.

As of late, anyone who practiced or had knowledge of the Dark Arts were instantly looked down upon with suspicion, if not open revulsion, whereas those that could claim to have a purely Wizard ancestry were instantaneously classed as "snobs", racists or pureblood supremacists, even if they harboured no such ideology.

However, these people that bore the brunt of the masses disgruntlement over their own losses did not complain of their treatment; they did not fight it. They stood aside from the mainstream Wizarding world, found company and solace in each other and practiced their arts in secret. They did what all oppressed minorities did when faced with what could only be described as outright harassment - they swore to themselves that they would take pride in who they were and what they did; they would take a stand for themselves and not let the masses destroy what their ancestors had wrought for so many millennia.

All they needed was a torchbearer, someone who could lead the way and unite the oppressed… to show those that ridiculed them or called their art "evil" how wrong they were to deny them their heritage.

It was only a matter of time.

But this is not the story of the time that was to come.

* * *

Harry Potter had thought himself free - he'd fulfilled the prophecy, defeated the man who had murdered his parents and finally had the same luxury most people took for granted - the blissful ignorance concerning their own future. No pre-set destinies, no enemies to slay - just blessed, unknown, chaotic future that he could spend the way he saw fit. Perhaps now, without the threat of Voldemort constantly hovering over his head, he could explore the possibilities that he had been all but barred from as a child... such as travelling.

Almost everyone he knew - Ron, Hermione... even Dudley, had spent time abroad on various holidays while _he_ was nearly eighteen and had never stepped foot outside of Britain. Certainly, he'd never been _allowed _to before. The Dursleys hadn't been exactly keen to include him in their family vacations, and with Hogwarts and Privet Drive being the only locations safe from Voldemort's grasp… well, travelling had to be put on hold.

However, his wistful plans were never meant to be. The Wizarding world wasn't going let their hero fade into the obscurity of a normal life, and they certainly didn't want to let him out of their sight for long.

He was lauded as the next Dumbledore, leader of the Light, Golden Boy who could do no wrong. If Harry Potter was out of the news for any substantial period of time, letters and missives from well-meaning members of the public would bombard him and enquire about his location, his well-being, what he was doing…The poor man couldn't get a haircut without it getting mentioned in one newspaper or another. It was celebrity worship of the worst kind.

Even worse yet, the Wizarding of Britain - despite being one of the largest settlements of their kind in Europe - was a _small _populace. While it would be a step too far to claim that everyone knew _everybody_ else, it was definitely the case that everyone knew _someone _who had come into contact with Harry Potter, one way or another. And as such, they felt an odd sense of _ownership _over their resident hero.

Very few people knew him personally, of course, and even fewer were interested in getting to know him - for when it came down to it, Harry Potter was your average teenager with the mood swings, impulsiveness and tendency to make bad decisions that came with it. But the public weren't interested in _that_ Harry Potter. They wanted their saviour, their "Defeater of Voldemort", not the child fresh out of school that he was.

The public was especially keen on his career choice, when the news finally leaked out. After all, declaring your intention to be an Auror in front of a Ministry official and several dozen gossipy classmates was a surefire way to make rumours spread. So when the dark-haired teen sent in his application for the training course in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, the public reaction was all thrill and no surprise.

Of _course_ Harry Potter could, and would, become an Auror - he simply could not be anything else. Could you imagine Harry Potter of all people, doing something dull? And why stop at being an Auror? Maybe he could even take position as Minister of Magic or perhaps even join the International Confederation of Wizards and become a Supreme Mugwump, just like Dumbledore had before him. After all, Harry Potter wasn't even eighteen but he already had a First Class Order of Merlin for his defeat against Voldemort. Not even Dumbledore had achieved such a feat so early!

Nobody saw or took notice of how fixed Harry Potter's smile was when, after several months of gruelling training, his inauguration into the Auror corps (which was supposed to be a strictly private affair) was turned into a newspaper spectacle for public entertainment. Despite Minister Shacklebolt's obvious misgivings about the entire affair, the Ministry of Magic couldn't let such a golden opportunity for some good publicity to go to waste.

* * *

However, this story isn't about Harry Potter either. After initial protests and token rebellions against the media and the overbearing community, the bespectacled teenager had all but given up, succumbing to public expectation and accepting his position as a "figurehead" for an ideology he wasn't sure he even understood anymore. The remainder of his life was spent vying for some privacy away from the cameras and intrusive questions, and chasing photo reporters working for "The Daily Prophet" from his rhododendron bushes.

No. Unlike the idolised hero of the masses (hounded by newspapers everywhere) there wasn't a living, breathing being on this planet that knew _his_ name. This was due, in part, to his inability to recall it himself. Had it been something with a C? Or a K? Or was it, perhaps, an L?

He found himself musing about this, striding down the grim yet pristine marble corridor towards one of his favourite studies in the sizeable mansion. The last person to refer to him by his given name, if he could remember correctly, was his father and that man had died almost a century and a half prior. The house elves that had been with him for as long as he remembered had never dared call him anything but "master" or "sir", so they had been no help in that regard. He would have insisted on them not bothering with the honorific (as he saw himself as nothing worth particular esteem) but found himself unable to come up with an alternative form of address for them to use.

He knew that there was great strength in a name – usually the one given by one's biological or assigned caregiver but not necessarily so– and that he had lost a fair bit of himself when he had purposefully given it away, but he had done it with what, at the time, he had felt was a very good reason. He was a prisoner and like all prisoners, he desperately wanted to be free.

Well… not a prisoner in the _strict_ definition of the word. He had done nothing to warrant incarceration, never been tried to found guilty by any judicial authority and he'd never even stepped foot in any official correctional facility… yet he felt every bit as confined and trapped as anyone in jail (including the impending insanity and pushy inmates)

For as long as he could remember, perhaps even since birth, he had lived in what he had in, a fit of originality, dubbed "the house". It was a pleasant enough affair – quite large, comfortably if a bit ostentatiously furnished and tended to by overzealous house elves that kept it prime condition – but he hated The House with a burning passion that was probably unmatched by even that of Harry Potter towards his arch nemesis and members of the press.

Tomorrow it would be exactly one hundred and thirty-seven years since he had been trapped within a single, isolated square kilometre of "paradise" in an unplottable mountain far, far up North with no other humans in sight for quite some distance. Even the hardened wildlife that generally felt right at home in conditions that would kill a human in minutes kept away from this frozen wasteland. There was simply nothing there except for a very old house, an old-fashioned garden and a very peculiar gate that had boggled the mind of the wizard for quite some time.

Despite this, the ostensibly young man had a genuine smile on his face when he peered into the work notebook for what felt like the hundredth time today alone – for there, in his neat and rounded script laid the spell that would either free him or incinerate him completely. Either option was fine with him at this point.

His smile turned somewhat grim at the thought while he leaned back into the backrest of the ridiculously grand, winged armchair in front of an equally over-decorated fireplace. Like his attempts to escape, any attempt to redecorate the positively primordial mansion was met with the wide-eyed horror of the house elves and stubborn resistance of the house in question.

If he replaced a piece of furniture with a more sensible piece, it would, inevitably, change back the minute he turned his back on it. If he tried covering up the cold stone walls with anything, they too would revert back to their naked, shiny glory once his attention shifted somewhere else.

It only fuelled his view of the house of nothing more than a gilded cage, built by some sick being that was treating him and his ancestors as some sort of guinea pig for an experiment he wanted no part in.

His only lead so far was a suspicion that his father (and everyone else in his ostentatious, boring and suspiciously short family tree) had not died of natural causes – from what some of his now long deceased house elves told him (between frantic ironing and hurried polishing, as if preparing for the arrival of important guests that never came) his father had seemed to know the exact time and date of his death and had become paler, more frantic and more insane as the day grew nearer. And finally, one day there was nothing left of the man who had sired him but a pile of ash, innocently scattered on a hardwood floor in the very room he was now sitting in, planning his escape.

He hadn't liked the bastard, to be truthful – his father had been absentminded, careless and considered himself the bellybutton of the world. He had only come in contact with his son when he felt like playing with him or teasing him with some magical nonsense toy or another, only to quickly grow bored and pass the boy off to the house elves to do the unpleasant parts of parenting.

But what he could gather from the notes left behind by the man and his ancestors was that some unnamed being, not entirely human if he read them right, had placed a barrier around his ancestral home nearly two millennia ago and in doing so, gifted his family with an extended life that many people would have literally committed murder for. But what he couldn't understand was why they had done so… and what they were asking for in return, for such gifts were rarely (if ever) dispensed for free.

He had long ago stopped seeing his extended life as anything other than a curse. Of course, having nearly four times the average lifespan of a Wizard at your disposal had its perks, but he wasn't even nearing the end of a _normal_ wizard's lifespan and he was growing tired of the never-ending monotony. He simply could not bear the thought of staying in the House til the end of what he more or less considered his sentence.

The main problem was that there was nothing to _do_ here – his only real companions were his books, house elves and the occasional representative from Gringotts. Most would consider this to be the company from hell and they would be right to an extent. However, they also happened to be his _only_ company, so he had tried to make the best of a bad situation.

He even went through the painstaking effort of learning Gobbledygook so he could communicate to the goblins in their own tongue. They usually ended up laughing at his pronunciation rather than showing any real appreciation for his efforts though.

* * *

It was at the magical age of twenty-one that he had stumbled upon his dream, and it had happened almost entirely by chance. He had been walking by one of the many mirrors lining the stone halls of the hallways when he had caught a glimpse of himself from the corner of his eye and had, for some reason he himself couldn't explain, stopped to inspect himself. He had passed the mirrors innumerable times without taking notice but on that day, his gaze was trapped and he peered into the mirror as if transfixed.

He was definitely around twenty-one, he was sure of it. Even though he had been born outside the jurisdiction of any country and as such, didn't have any real paperwork to his name, his house elves went to great pains to record everything that had happened to him, no matter how trivial (such as the fact that his first decipherable word had been "squishy"), so he knew exactly how old he was.

Nevertheless, he had, for some reason he hadn't really understood at the time, stared at himself and tried to catalogue who he was as a person. He was forced to conclude that his appearance wasn't anything special- if anything, the words "absurdly inconspicuous" come to mind. He reminded himself of one of those old muggle photographs that had been left too long in the sun and was, as such, prone to bleaching and fading. Not ugly, but not someone that would be spared a second glance.

Even in the obscenely bright sunshine that reflectef from the never-absent snow and permeated through his home, he was never truly… vivid. His features were soft, non-descript and of uncertain origin – as far as anyone was concerned, he could have been Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, Caucasian, Arian... the possibilities were endless. His hair was short, in a boy-cut typical of muggle teens and a dull grey-brown in colour. The only things that he even moderately liked about his appearance were his eyes because they were the only colourful aspect of his appearance. They were neither green, gray, blue nor brown, yet all of them at the same time that created a yellowish-green blend when viewed from a distance.

"Sort of like a cat." He had mused, pulling faces and turning his face every which way to see himself from all angles. Apart from the fact that he looked twelve when he was supposed to be a young adult, he didn't really stand out in any meaningful way. He had shrugged this off because while no one enjoyed knowing that they were in any way unremarkable, he had always been told that "looks didn't amount to anything" and as such, didn't put much emphasis on it.

He had other things going for him! Such as… well, he had lots of money in a far-away vault, and he had been given a very expensive education because while he himself couldn't go beyond the barrier that encompassed his home, other people could come and go if they wished. The ostensible twelve-year old scratched his chin at that thought though. He hadn't really… taken advantage of the chance to learn. Admittedly, most children believe that they had all the time in the world and were in no hurry to advance but he… well, he had been a lazy child. He loved to read, but he simply didn't have the motivation to study and force-feed his mind with facts he could never see himself using.

In the end, he had ended up thinking for a long time. He had shooed away his house elves and spent the night by that mirror, pressing his forehead against the cold, reflective surface of the mirror, thinking hard. He wasn't really that good at anything, he had concluded with sadness. He wasn't a brilliant thinker or a smooth talker or an athletic dueller. He was… average, at best. And he would remain average, because… because even if he read all the books in the world, what good would it do? If he died like his father, cut off seemingly in his prime like a blown out candle the day his time had come up… would anyone care? Cry? At least be _relieved_? Or would they sweep him under the rug and forget that he ever existed?

After all, all the important figures that he encountered in his reading, whether they were imaginary or historical, had one thing in common – they were often wonderers who travelled the world helping people and sometimes even influenced the course of history. They weren't always the ones that were the smartest or strongest – they were the ones who did not give up easily and had a _goal_.

It was there and then that his conviction had been born – he would leave the barrier and he would become the sort of person no one could simply walk by without ever taking notice. Least of all _himself._

* * *

Needless to say, however, he had run into problems pretty early on – for one, he was no genius and he would be the first to admit it. He was passably clever and loved to read and learn if it was at his own pace and volition but the barrier had been more than a match for him and none of the books he read had any mention of anything that he could relate to his own circumstances.

Still, he continued to read like a maniac – he read everything he could get his paws on, including things that were borderline fantasy even by Wizarding standards, but answers continued to evade him like house elves confronted with clothes.

Inevitably he would grow frustrated and angry, swearing to himself that if he never held a book in his hands again it would be an age too soon, only to end up with his nose in some tome or another not long after.

He read, day in and day out - books from his own sizeable library, books he had purchased from every corner of the globe, books that were banned and supposedly destroyed, books on the darkest, most horrific rituals that there were in existence, books that dealt on the borderline fantastic (and ridiculous), books that tried to kill/possess/maim him, books that didn't even open until you spilt some blood, books that were blank unless you asked them politely to open up…he read them all, even though none contained the knowledge he so desperately searched for.

In the end he had even wrestled away his shyness and written to a world-famous wizard whose work he secretly admired, as the man was credited for being unusually nice for someone so powerful. They had struck up a relationship as tentative pen pals and he had used the great man to bounce ideas off and exchange books with, as their libraries were of great interest to one another. But even that wielded little results.

Albus Dumbledore had even visited him once – in person! - After a lengthy correspondence to deliver a very valuable book on obscure containment and sealing rituals that he had lent him in exchange for several copies of his own books that could be potentially destructive in the wrong hands.

When the man had examined his work and ascertained that he really had no intention to use his extensive knowledge for anything other than securing his own freedom, the old man had been very forthcoming but in the end, even one of the greatest wizards to have ever lived was forced to admit defeat.

So he had given up. He moped around the house, hid from the house elves and spent quite a lot of time sitting outside and staring at the bane of his existence – a primeval-looking stone gate that seemed to be the source of the prettily glimmering sheen of magic that protected him from the raging blizzard outside and prevented his escape.

He may have begun to go a bit… stir-crazy at that point. He simply could not think of anything that he hadn't already tried his hand at! He had tried destroying it, banishing it, sneaking past it, becoming a muggle (that was one episode he tried to firmly erase from his mind – he hadn't felt so miserable in his entire life) and even used a highly questionable ritual to "spirit" his way across, to no avail. He had tried everything he had thought of or read in a book (bar the truly dangerous tricks involving sacrifices and self-mutilation) but it was a dead-end that seemed to go on whichever way he turned.

He had achieved nothing but a mental bin full of discarded ideas. In the end, it wasn't even about escaping anymore. Almost everyone in his own age-group were either happily retired, proud great-grandparents or happily dead, resting amongst their families. He would be happy if he were just allowed to pass on while he had some dignity intact.

* * *

It was his 121st birthday and a morose figure sat alone, resting against the trunk of an old poplar tree. _"A century,"_ he thought, turning his gaze towards the sky that appeared to be almost painfully blue despite the raging blizzard he could hear through the barrier. _"It's been nearly a century and I'm still exactly where I started. Maybe I should just go mad."_ He thought, sounding rather blasé about the prospect.

_"Just for a little while… see how it goes."_ He was disturbed from his musings on the pros and cons of insanity by the whip-like crack that signalled the arrival of one of his house elves. He liked the little creatures well enough - they had been his carers and playmates in his youth, after all - but at the moment, he wasn't interested in doing much besides closing his eyes and maybe waking up a few centuries later. Wouldn't that be a joy? Maybe he would have developed some facial hair by then.

"Master is receiving new book, sirs!" The house elf said with a bow that made his sharp, pencil-like nose almost touch the ground. The house elf was handling the package very oddly, almost as if it was avoiding touching it with more than the barest amount of skin possible.

"OK, give it here. Maybe I can find some ideas for what I'm going to do when I go mad. I'm going to, you know – go mad, that is." He said to the house elf in a tone one would usually reserve for conversing about the weather or the rising prices of milk.

The house elf had sent him a decidedly odd look but he paid it no mind – all the house elves considered him a few snails short of a calming draught and this was an admittedly difficult achievement if one considered the positive bias house elves usually had towards their masters.

Snatching the paper off the bundle of books he couldn't help but laugh – the creature had been making such a show of not wanting to touch the books because they were written by a muggle! Funny old world, he thought with a smile.

When he began to read one of them, it was with the level of interest he reserved for everything he did recently i.e. almost none. But the more he read, the straighter his back became and the more tensely his fingers clasped around the covers of the relatively small, plastic clad book. It wasn't a new book, as the muggle scientist had published it quite some time ago and its choice of topic was arguable bizarre - it was talking about something that the muggle scientist had dubbed the "multiverse" theory – the idea that there are an infinite amount of worlds in the Universe, existing simultaneously alongside our own.

He sat under that tree for a long, long time.

* * *

In the end, it had simply boiled down to the fact that there was no escape for him while he existed in his current world – he had performed _every _piece of magic that he could afford to try - some required him to harm somebody else (something he had sworn never to do, just on principle) and some were so risky or damaging to his person that they simply weren't worth even trying. What was the point of being free from the Barrier if you risked spending the rest of your days blind (or otherwise mutilated), incorporeal or crazy? Coming to terms with it was both easy and hard, just like accepting that you're inside a burning building that you're not getting out of.

But the inconspicuous little muggle-written book had immediately sparked a new idea in him – if he was bound within a prison in _one _world, who's to say that he'll be bound in another? In a world where the seal had never existed in the first place, rendering him free even if he hadn't _technically _moved his physical location.

Surely the reach of the barrier couldn't stretch beyond the confines of the existing world and reality? A little further research (he was back in his frantic reading mode) showed that while alternate dimensions and realities that were little more than obscure theories and scientific fantasy to muggles were actually quite commonplace for wizards, even if most of them - like him - hadn't been aware of this.

Anyone who could apparate or perform an expansion charm were, effectively, mucking about with pocket dimensions. However, what he had in mind was a completely different kettle of fish. He wasn't going to mess about any longer, trying to get away through those small pocket dimensions that were still anchored in the pre-existing one and as such, useless to him. No, he was going to travel to a completely different world, an alternate reality that had existed separately for what could be billions of years and may contain literally anything.

Again, it wasn't as if he hadn't contemplated taking drastic measures before. He had once briefly toyed with time travel but had written it off almost immediately – the barrier had been in place for a good few millennia at least and there was no force on earth which could propel him so far back without incinerating him – extremely painfully – in the process. The record distance travelled was little more than a century and even then the only available account came from a man that almost everyone agreed was mad, if his tendency to rub oatmeal into his hair as a fashion statement was anything to go by.

And while he wouldn't be terribly upset if he _did _die, he had promised himself that he would avoid doing anything that he _knew _to be pointless and lethal, time travel included.

So, while that particular option was out, he hung on to the dimension-hopping idea with the tenacity of a terrier on a particularly hefty behind and had planned, schemed and researched with returned fervour that the had missed in his down-period.

The problems, however, were substantial and could not be taken lightly. For one, it would take an enormous amount of power to perform such a spell and he was forced to put away his "pet project" until his magical core developed accordingly. He would probably have to surpass some of the most powerful wizards ever to have lived in terms of sheer "grit" because he didn't have the same control and understanding that they did - but while he was still younger than Dumbledore had been (before his death at the grand old age of one hundred and fifty), _his_ body was impervious to the normal processes of ageing and breaking down that Dumbledore had been susceptible to, and that seemed to strike an according chord with his magic.

He had estimated (quite happily) that waiting for the day of his 137th birthday would give him sufficient time to build up his strength for what he was planning to do, giving him about sixteen years to prepare. It seemed like a long span of time for anyone to have to wait but he knew that if he were being realistic, he would still be hard-pressed to research and design a spell that could do such a thing in less than two decades.

Another problem was that while he would have the _power_ required it was beyond him to control such amounts of raw magic so he could end up literally anywhere. His physical location wouldn't change but he could end up in any number of alternate planets which would mean having to prepare for almost all imaginable and unimaginable possibilities and scenarios. Faced with such difficulties he had, for the first time in his life, felt like he was short on time.

* * *

Giddily, the man-boy in question ran down the inlaid stone steps of his mansion and wandered between the mighty oak trees that made up his courtyard, stopping just short of the magical barrier that separated his home (House, he corrected himself. Never home) from the raging blizzard outside. It had always been this way, as far as he could remember, never changing. The enormous house, built nearly entirely out of stone, cold and pristine, sat inlaid in a perfectly spherical garden/park that encircled the house in the middle, always looking as if it was the middle of summer despite the extreme temperature outside, and somehow impervious to seasonal change.

Like the house that it surrounded, the garden was cold and impersonal, beautiful certainly but no more alive and natural than those pitiful plastic replica plants you sometimes saw in muggle restaurants. But beyond all that was the bane of his existence, the reason he had worked so hard for. The barrier.

If he hadn't loathed the thing with a burning passion, he may have admitted that it was a brilliant piece of magic, spectacularly well done. After all, it had withstood everything that the mainstream magical literature of the time had to offer without so much as a crack or a flicker.

The only thing he could determine with any certainty was that the gate – a relatively simple stone arch comprised of two entwined reptilian-like creatures who hissed at him whenever he went near them – was the key to the whole enterprise. But that was it. He couldn't even decipher the symbols that spanned the whole structure. He had tried comparing it to every language he could think of – dead or alive – as well as treating it as a cryptogram and trying to ascertain if it event meant anything at all or was just for decoration – or for annoying him, as it would seem.

So by any right, he should (and does) hate the prettily shimmering layer of magic that encompassed him from the rest of the world but as it was, he was grinning at it, a big toothy smile that seemed slightly out of place on his usually placid face, the dark circles that sleepless nights had etched under his eyes becoming more pronounced than ever. Clearly, some people just weren't meant to smile and he rarely did so, but now, he let himself indulge a little. In fact, anyone who didn't know better could have sworn that he _had_ gone mad in the passing of the years.

One of the creatures, an ugly thing with too many teeth that should be legally allowed in one mouth and covered in moss and lichen glanced at him, clearly suspicious - but the boy-man in question was unperturbed, and after a few more seconds of watching the barrier, swiftly turned on the spot and hurried back to the house. _"Soon, so very, very soon…"_ He thought, some anxiety pooling at the bottom of his stomach. There was every possibility that his endeavour could fail, that he would die or both but he was more than willing to take that chance.

* * *

Years of living in confinement among a malignant form of magic had made him paranoid, and while he wasn't _always_ vigilant, he made sure to keep a close eye on the ambient magic of his dear "home". He knew that when his time would come, the house would show no mercy and that he would end up kicking the proverbial bucket good-bye, just like his father. However, _unlike _his dear departed dad, he would not let that happen - at least, not until he had done something worth mentioning. Not until he could grudge up a semblance of liking for himself.

So when The Day had finally come our hero (well, protagonist) was trying to eat his breakfast in a manner as inconspicuous as possible, as to not arouse any suspicion in the ever-present house elves. As it were, one of them was glancing at him with large, unblinking eyes, slightly narrowed in what could be thought, although thinking was over-rated for house elves. They were not _stupid_, not by any meaning of the word - but to them, decision-making of any kind was a wild and borderline heretical thing to do.

"What master being up to?" he demanded, his squeaky voice not quite achieving the tone of indignation he was trying to achieve. "You be smirking in your oatmeal." He added, seeing as no answer was forthcoming from his master. Merlin knew that he adored his master, they all did in the manor (despite how difficult it was at times) but he could be such a troublesome child at times, not fitting for a wizard of his age!

"I think the soup's burning." The boy said, not lifting his eyes up from his bowl. The words had their desired affect and the little creature squeaked in panic and hurried towards the perfectly fine pot of chicken soup on the stove. If there was _one_ thing he would miss once he left, it would probably be the superb cooking.

Silently congratulating himself on another successful diversionary tactic (even though the elves tended to fall for it every time and as such, weren't exactly worthy adversaries to overcome in his quest for freedom) the young man retreated to his bedroom where the majority of his plan had been formed without the knowledge of his nosy servants.

They knew nothing about the nature of the barrier or why it was there at all (he had made double and triple sure – Legilimency was worth the years he had spent learning it and as his servants, they were not free to lie to him anyway), but they would still kick up an awful fuss if they found out that he had tried to leave again and he simply couldn't risk the interruption. He had his suspicions before of the damn barrier being at least somewhat sentient and he couldn't risk being found out. Not now.

Due to his reclusive nature Occlumency had come to him far easier than Legilimency (which had been a mother of all pains – he still wasn't completely proficient at it) but even then he wondered if the house could read his thoughts or if he was slowly becoming the paranoid old bastard he was destined to become.

So far, the majority of his preparations (the extensive research notwithstanding) had consisted of packing – he had taken everything he might need in his new life as a free wizard, and this consisted of anything that may be considered valuable or a form of currency in a different culture (money, precious metals etc) as well as books, potions ingredients, his wand(s), clothes, even a small house – and stored them within two small, inconspicuous rings that he placed on his left hand and charmed them to not slip off when he wasn't looking.

Nobody would notice the two tiny slivers of silver around his pale fingers but for the potential eagle-eyed watcher there were always glamours and sight-repellent charms that would cause their eyes to slide off the pieces of jewellery as if they weren't there.

However, the escapee wizard had placed extra (meticulous) care in packing and securing one of his most prized possessions - it was incredibly rare, had cost him and arm and a leg (and an eye, and several favours, and a ton of gold to boot) and could land him in a heap of trouble if the authorities caught wind of it.

It was a time-turner, and a beautiful one at that, if he thought so himself. It was small, designed to be carried around the neck of the wielder and was intricately carved from purest silver that never seemed to dull with age. Which, of course, was only appropriate if one considered the power it most wondrous thing, however, was the sand within it - unlike the rough granules of mineral found on most beaches, the pearly substance swirling about the crystal container seemed more liquid than solid, and was forever shifting and moving, despite having no outside force jostling it.

It would be an understatement to say that it had been difficult to acquire it. Time-turners were - for a very good reason - completely illegal and were jealously hoarded by magical authorities everywhere. Occasionally, strictly supervised use was allowed for individuals who were deemed trustworthy but private use (or even ownership) was strictly forbidden.

However, if there was one thing he had learned after a lifetime of chasing dodgy reading material, it was that the right amount of gold to the right individual could do wonders. The man (who simply referred to himself as "The Contact" and had given no other information about himself) had been adamant that the wizard needn't worry about the source of the item, but the young wizard still couldn't dodge the nasty suspicion that the time-turned had been stolen. At best.

His guilty conscious aside, however, the item could prove more than invaluable to him in the future so he had delicately packed the tiny intricate little figurine in several layers of silk and placed it in a box within a box, before stowing it away in one of his pockets. Incredibly lacklustre protection for sure, but the time-turner had the unfortunate disadvantage of being sensitive to magical intereference - so no sealing, no resizing, no wards. Just good old-fashioned caution.

Appart from the time-turner, he had prepared some further safety measures. On the underside of his right arm there were seven minute runic seals, each corresponding to one of the wands he owned. They were simple (in appearance) and required the most rudimentary form of magic to function, so he could summon any one of them at a moment's notice if he should lose or break the one he currently used the most.

He hadn't initially planned on owning that many wands - in fact, for the vast majority of his life, he had functioned perfectly well with the one he had bought as a child from the famous wand-master, Gargovich. However, in an another fruitless venture to escape from the Barrier he had purchased another wand, this one from a more obscure and not entirely reputable wand-merchant in the off-chance that the barrier was somehow reacting to his wand and not himself (like some governments monitoring spells tended to do) – this had lead to another, and then another and finally he was buying the damn things because he was bored – and some of them contained some pretty bizarre ingredients.

_"Who could have known trolls had any use in the secret art of wand-making." _He had thought with a smile and a shudder. Still, it was no less bizarre than what was in the core of Wand Nr. 4 and the idea still made him grimace in disgust, no matter how potent the wand was at warding.

The summoning runes were an innovation he had spent a fair amount of time on as he was keenly aware of the fact that his wand was his greatest weapon but also a terrible weakness in a situation of danger. A well-placed hex could snap most wands and that would leave their wielder almost completely defenceless, especially when they were as untalented in duelling as he was. Add the fact that he couldn't be sure that he could get a replacement wherever he was going, and spare wands were a definite must.

Tweaking powerful magical objects whose secrets were closely kept wasn't an easy task but it helped that the art wasn't quite such a mystery to him as it was to the average wizard. His long-standing dysfunctional working-relationship with the goblins meant that in exchange for (quite a lot of) gold, they were willing to show him some minor tricks of the trade in altering magical objects that had come very handy indeed over the years…

At any rate, he made the rings containing most of his possesions himself (which was why they wouldn't be particularly desirable to thieves) as the cloak that he would be wearing – it had taken him weeks of continuous work to perfect it, and no invisibility cloak in the world would make him want to give it up.

It was rather ugly and slightly crooked (he hadn't completely gotten the hang of the needle and thread yet, and pushing them through coarse leather made the job even more unsatisfying, even with magic at his disposal), with very large pockets and sporting a rather unbecoming shade of something between chestnut and orange. Regardless of appearance though, he was very fond of it and made sure that it was kept in pristine condition for the upcoming trip.

All this extensive preparation work lead back to one single problem – everything that can happen, has happened somewhere in the universe. For all he knew, he could gleefully end up in a time-line where the planet earth had never gotten around to forming and would end up in open space… or in a time-line where Earth hadn't developed conditions to support life – or at least life as he knew it.

Maybe the laws of gravity wouldn't be the same as what he's used to and would end up squished or exploded. Maybe civilisation will have destroyed itself in an atomic war these muggles continually worried about. Maybe… the list went on and on.

Our resident quasi-immortal shook his head, quickly putting the calming techniques he had learned during his Occlumency training to good use. There was no point fretting about something that was beyond his control. It was equally possible, he tried to reason with himself, that he would end up in a world where the only noticeable difference was that his doorknocker was in the shape of a circle and not an oval.

Anyhow, this was where his coat had come into play – should he end up in… unwelcome circumstances, it should protect him from all but the most extreme of environments until he could rest enough to try again. Of course, if he landed in a black hole, or found a brand new world only to find the barrier there with him, he would definitely die (in the last scenario, he would simply _Avada Kedavra_ himself without hesitation, promise be damned).

* * *

It might have been his birthday but he felt anything but festive. Writing your own will (in case of immediate, horrible death) would be somewhat unnerving for anyone, he reckoned. He had signed everything else that he didn't take with him – money (what was left of it, at least), copies of not-very-valuable-but still-useful books, minor magical artefacts etc. - to copious charities and research facilities in the event should he die or succeed. He had also made sure that all of his house elves would go to good homes once he left, as he still felt an exasperated sort of fondness for them and didn't want them to suffer for his actions.

The house elves weren't aware of what he had in mind, of course – they were all inside, preparing a birthday feast that would go uneaten and he had given them strict instructions to keep well away from the courtyard. His excuse was that he would be busy decorating the garden and didn't want any interruptions.

Breathing deeply, he performed last minute checks (for the umpteenth time), making sure that everything that he could need was safely and securely tucked away in their respective places, that none of the charms and wards he had placed upon himself and his belongings had failed and that he had memorised the ritual (that would make or break him) flawlessly.

With one last glance around the empty courtyard of his jail, he grasped his wand in shaking, sweating fingers (When did that happen?) and began to murmur the lengthy incantation, forcing, pushing every vestige of magic that cursed through his body and immediate surroundings (what some called the "aura") into the spell.

He was so engrossed in the task, so overwhelmed with the burning that was his magic rushing through him that he failed to notice the clouds that had begun to form and quickly blotted out the twinkling stars in a matter of seconds.

Chilly winds, sharp as razors began to pick up and whip around him, sending his normally flaccid hair into a whirlwind mess, an obscure oriole around his head as he had foregone putting on his hood. Thunder began to rumble in the distance, but grew both louder and more frequent as the spell wore on, until the gargantuan roars seemed to hang just over his head.

The ancient oaks groaned and moaned under the force of the gale, their leaves ripped apart from the bullet-like rain that had begun to fall and dig into any patch of skin that wasn't protected by his coat. His teeth clattered from the abrupt drop in temperature as his hands were outside the warm protection of his coat, while his ears felt that they might cave in any moment due to the noise around him, but he pushed on, desperate to get the incantation right, his stomach dropping as he eventually felt the wave of magic weaken, little rips occurring in the once continuous stream of energy. If he failed now, he could kiss his entire enterprise good-bye.

_"No."_ He thought, clenching his teeth around the incomprehensible stream of words flowing through his lips. There was no logical reason why he should not succeed. Everything was going according to plan! He just needed to hold out a few more minutes…

Unbeknownst to him, little flickers of lightning began to form overhead. Small pinpricks against the vast backdrop at first, they too began to increase in both size and frequency until enormous webbed bolts of pure electrical power began to criss-cross against the atmosphere every few seconds.

A few even began to lick against the barrier, like the tongue of a curious child when tasting something new, but the barrier held, impenetrable and unyielding. However, the lightning did not give in but increased the brutality of its onslaught and the barrier found itself having to draw on some secret, unprecedented source of power until it was glowing an ominous shade of blue, humming in intensity - still translucent at first but quickly darkening until he could see nothing beyond it.

If at first the barrier had been somewhat forthcoming to _some _of the weather (his house did need air and rain, after all) it had now almost completely sealed off the house from the outside world. There was no rain, no wind, no sound – the wizard was still busy enchanting, manipulating his magic even though he had no idea of what was going on and whether he was succeeding or failing, the opaque barrier all that he could see of the outside world that he yearned for.

However, less than a minute later a final, monstrous bolt of lightning crashed through the top of the barrier like a sword through wrapping paper. The ostensibly young wizard had begun to lose consciousness, the grip on his wand loosening and the previously clear, sharp words of the incantation beginning to slur. The last thought to run through his mind before the lightening that could have, should have killed anyone not cumbered with the burden of forced life was…

"Well, this is it… do it or die, I'm fine with both."

Then, he knew only darkness...

* * *

Well, he would have _preferred_ it if he knew only darkness. In reality, he only received a few seconds of respite after the bolt of lightning had almost literally blown his circuits before he ended up sprawled on top of what felt like an icy body of water, weaving and rolling underneath him.

His right cheek was quickly becoming numb as it was pressed against the surface of the water without breaking it (courtesy of an advanced water-repelling charm) and shivers ran through his body from the adrenaline and low temperatures.

His mind was sluggish and disorientated, titbits of facts and opinions swimming around before receding into darkness. For the moment, he was content to let the charms and wards on his coat and person to keep him from drowning and developing hypothermia.

_"Drowning…"_ the term drifted hazily in his mind and seemed to stick. _"Water… where did all the damn water come from… cold…"_ His body was weak and sore, every twitch of muscle sending panicked messages of pain through his abused nerves. His dry throat itching, the wizard swallowed slowly and rolled over to his back, wincing at the adamant protests from his body, as if it was telegraphing "what the hell do you think your doing!" translated in to the language of aches and pains directly into his poor brain.

The movement cause his hood fell back from his forehead, which in turn exposed his closed eyes to the unforgiving rays of the sun, burning his over-sensitive irises. With a manly whimper, he clutched at his most vulnerable organs, muscle pain momentarily forgotten. _"Was I really unconscious for so long?" He thought blurrily. "It's too cold and wet for daytime… wait… wet?"_

* * *

**AN: **Hi! This is my first ever story and while this doesn't excuse me from writing crappy stories, it does mean that mistakes _will_ occur and, as I have been reliably informed, _have _occurred.

Thus, I've made some tweaks to the first chapter (to _make _it make more sense, damn you!) but the original concept has changed very little, if at all.

I also wanted to make it clear (from the beginning) that this _wasn't_ a story about Harry Potter. Initially it was going to be – I love Harry's character – but when I thought about what I wanted for this story (that I have a pretty solid framework for) I knew it couldn't happen – not without butchering his character beyond belief.

I intend to finish it (I've grown very fond of my OC ^.^) and I hope to improve my writing skills and have something fun to do when I'm sick of writing University coursework. XD

I'm pretty bad at noticing small details so if you see any gaps in logic, poor grammar or generally feel like criticising – please let me know! I prefer correcting things than thinking I'm awesome when I'm actually a muppet. ;)

Ps. I know that this story seems like a ridiculous wall of text, but until our poor character encounters some human beings he's going to feel very lonely and will have to talk only to himself. It will change pretty soon though!

Until next time!

~ Monkey in a Jump Suit


	2. Chapter 2

~ Chapter 2 ~ The Premonition

* * *

He continued to lie there, gently bobbing up and down with the movements of the waves and simply concentrated on breathing until his thoughts could gain some semblance of order and purpose.

His coat, riddled with warming and protective wards and charms, was wrapped tightly around his curled frame that was nevertheless beginning to shiver - not so much from the cold as from exhaustion and adrenaline that he had managed to ignore at first. It was finally beginning to take its toll on him, though.

So far, the only coherent information he had managed to gather was that he was _alive _and _breathing _and definitely not where he was when he had started the spell. For one, there were no large liquid bodies of water anywhere within his reach from the barrier, and it had been pitch black outside to boot. The implications of this information were clear and startling if processed properly but he refused to do so - he knew that the ensuing emotions and questions would only serve to confuse and disorientate him further, especially considering the befuddled state that he was already in.

So, he continued to remain motionless, letting the force of the water rock him into an uneasy sleep while his frenzied heart continued to pound and his muscles remained tightly clenched despite his efforts to relax them.

When he came around for the second time he still felt like he had been trampled over by a heavily pregnant dragon but at least his mind wasn't quite the jumbled mess that it was before. Blinking the sleep out of his sore eyes (after all, he hadn't slept in well over 24 hours and he had been completely exhausted by the spell), he cautiously moved his hood and peered at the now setting sun, determining that he had less than an hour before night fell.

The wind was picking up too, and it would become chilly quite soon. He didn't try to stand though but instead gazed around, absentmindedly looking for the wand he had been holding before he lost consciousness. He was certain that he had it with him before he passed out the second time and _after _he was violently and unnaturally ripped from the world he was born in, but for now it was nowhere in sight, probably swept away by the choppy water. Judging by the crisp, salty and cool air he was somewhere within an ocean or sea (although a large saltwater lake was also a possibility) and probably pretty far away from shore, as he could not see anything resembling dry land from where he was standing.

_"Or maybe it is the planet of the fish people_ _and there is no land_." He thought, a wry smile tugging at his lips. The absurd thought, however made him realise that he was standing on an alien world, which in turn made him realise that there was no barrier in sight – it had barely sunk in and yet he couldn't help the loud cry of pure bloody _joy _that tore out of his still sore throat, an euphoric, warm bubble of emotion swelling within his chest.

Unsteadily, he sunk to his knees and peered into the murky dark water that presented him with a shaky image of his own pale, wide-eyed features. His slender fingers, which had not held anything heavier than a book in their lifetime gingerly touched the wobbly mirror image, which promptly dissolved it in a flurry of ripples. He smiled, calmer now and rose to his full height, taking in his first _official _breath in what would, hopefully, become his new home. "_I think I may need a new name, though."_

He continued to smile, his new-found happiness seeming to ignite something within him, a spark that made him appear more like a true adolescent rather than an old man stuck inside an uncomfortable costume of a teenager.

First things first though, before he could truly celebrate a job well done he would have to get a better understanding of where he was and what had changed due to the journey. The rule of "everything and anything can happen" still applied and just because he had ended up somewhere with an oxygen-nitrogen based atmosphere that supported carbon-based life forms didn't mean that he was quite out of the woods yet.

So far, apart from the glaringly obvious change in the landscape he had come to the conclusion that while the water was undeniably cold, the air above it was quite warm and humid signifying that he was somewhere between the temperate and tropical climate zone and _not _where he was when he left – ridiculously high up north, far from the equator.

The realisation was somewhat unsettling as finding fundamental flaws in his planning and reasoning just a few hours into the journey was not the best of starts but there was nothing to be done for it and he resolved to rethink it properly on a later date, when more immediately pressing concerns were settled. He could not see or feel any glaring changes in his own person though and that had certainly come as a profound relief. But that only sent a flurry of new worries cursing through his mind. "_Why am I not dead? I'm far past the lifespan of an average human and not __all Wizards make it so late, so unless I'm still in the…"_

He could physically feel the blood draining from his face but paid it no heed as he was walking, practically jogging on unsteady legs as fast as he could away from the place he had woken up in. He _had _to be wrong; there was no other way! "_I was almost exactly in the centre of the barrier when I left. It takes around 300 footsteps from here to the edge of the barrier, so…"_

He ran. Then he ran some more, a good kilometre of opaque, shifting ground disappearing beneath the heels of his shoes before he squatted down, exhausted once more. "_So I'm _**_not_**_ in the barrier. Does that mean I will age normally now?" _He wondered, not in the least worried or apprehensive by the possibility of dying within the next few decades or so. It was what he had been fighting for, after all - the freedom to pass on, on his own terms.

The possibility of dying upon arrival due to his age was a risk he had considered while planning the whole journey but he had been more than willing to take on that chance, rather than sitting around waiting for the old skeletal man to come get him anyway. Once again happy with the circumstances the man recalled his still-absent wand and resolved to reclaim it.

It was the first wand he had ever owned, received at the traditional eleven years of age (although he had never attended a school of witchcraft and wizardry and wasn't bound by any legal legislation) and was therefore quite fond of it and used it frequently, resulting in various patches and repair jobs over the years due to everyday wear and tear it was subject to.

_"Linden and pheonix feather_." He thought, placing two of his middle fingers on one of the symbols littering his right arm, as if checking for a pulse. "_The irony in receiving a wand containing part of an _**_immortal _**_bird doesn't escape me." _ He thought, feeling for his magic and attempting to channel it through the mark._ "Neither does the fact that linden are traditionally associated with women."_

At first, when nothing happened he felt a slight confusion, followed by a feeling of dread at the prospect of having lost or permanently damaged his magical core due to his dimension-hopping but the feelings receded, trailed by another sharp burst of relief as his honey-coloured, battered old wand appeared in his fingers, warm to the touch despite having been in cold water for several hours. The feeling was close to that of hugging an old but dear friend. "_I expected being tired, but if even something like _**_this_**_ took that much effort then I'm worse off than I thought."_

He mused, his fingers going through the automatic, repetitive motions of twirling and petting the wand, as he was often prone to do when in deep thought.

_"I need to find dry land, and I need to know what sort of world I've landed myself into. Only then it is worth thinking about finding a permanent location. Besides, there's little point in investing time in coming up with a new name and background, only to stick out like a sore thumb among the local populace because of phonetic differences or strange clothes. And truthfully, I've been stuck in a single location for far too long, anyway – I'm in no hurry to settle." _

Relieved at the prospect of having an actual goal to work on (he had felt momentarily lost when he realised that his life's work had come to an end), the man placed the wand upon his open palm, horizontally, and intoned _Point Me to the nearest land_ and became _very _annoyed when it promptly pointed straight down.

_"Smart-ass wand_" he chortled, irritated but not surprised at the results he had gotten and repeated the incantation, this time making sure to make it clearer what he wanted done. And accordingly, this time around the wand slowly but decisively pointed due east and remained so until he placed it into one of the numerous pockets that littered his coat.

_East it is_ _then_, He thought with a smile, the last vestiges of the dying sun warming his cheeks before he quickly disappeared without a sound, leaving no trace of ever having been there.

* * *

Apparating when one hadn't the slightest clue where they were is a highly risky undertaking, especially when you are dangerously fuzzy-brained and physically taxed. Nevertheless, after several short trips (each as long as he could safely see), he was immensely relieved to spot what was undeniably land in the last rays of the sun. The chill was now blatantly obvious, and while his body and head were safely tucked away underneath his cloak his fingers, when outside of the protection of his long sleeves were feeling number by the second.

_"You should've made gloves too, idiot." _He thought, barely suppressing a yawn. He had the energy for one last apparition, and he managed to land safely (if a bit unsteadily) on the sandy beach that seemed to stretch out in each direction, without an end in sight.

However, he knew all too well that the presence of the sea (ocean?) made it a highly popular location for human settlements and he felt ill equipped to deal with them at the moment. As such, he resolved to set up a tent away from the beach, under the relative protection of the trees and go exploring tomorrow.

Setting up the tent and activating the wards in an half-asleep state was far more difficult than he remembered it being – he had even managed to poke himself in the eye with the butt-end of his wand while trying to clear away a trickle of sweat that was forming on his brow but eventually he was finished, and eagerly descended the simple stone steps down into his modest two-bedroom tent for a spot of well-deserved rest.

* * *

It was well past noon when he finally reappeared within the folds of the brown canvas tent, looking decidedly better than he had the previous night although the dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced than ever and would most likely take some time to disappear.

The biggest change so far was undoubtedly a psychological one. It showed in his gait – while usually he would hurriedly strut around with time-saving efficiency, he now allowed himself to take his sweet time moving around, stretching occasionally and holding his shoulders in a manner less reminiscent of someone carrying something large, uncomfortable and heavy on their back.

After eating a hearty pre-prepared meal (Boinky never did find out that the picnic he had prepared for his master's "outdoor lunch" had gone where no man had gone before) and getting some decent sleep, he now felt more or less like himself, ready to pursue his next goal. His magic still wasn't quite what it was but as long as he kept things relatively simple, he should fare fine. He was simply sick of a life of idleness and now that he had a limited time to work with, he wasn't going to waste any of it.

Interestingly enough, no research has ever satisfactorily explained exactly how _much _magic a wizard had at their disposal, simply because anyone who tried to reach their limits succumbed to physical tiredness and sleep before they could reach it. Some said that since magic was closely connected with one's soul, it would make little sense to compare magic to something mundane that could "run out" but clearly, there were limits to how much one could safely use without feeling absolutely wretched. _"Now we have a good idea." _He thought with a smile, crouching down in the lush grass.

Bluntly speaking, the idea of remaining still repulsed him on an unconscious level - he wanted to _run_. So, with a few short flicks of his wand the tent packed itself and returned to its place in one of the small silver bands that rested on his ring finger.

Casting a suspicious look around himself and deeming the blackbird couple on the branch above him as non-threatening he closed his eyes and concentrated solely on the smooth transfiguration from man to beast. Once all four of his paws hit the ground he leapt smoothly into the thick undergrowth that permeated the coastline and headed due east, his claws relishing the feeling of digging into a mixture of wet earth and supple grass. There was an entire new world out there, after all.

* * *

The small girl, barely seven years of age, quickly and agilely navigated through the ample rubbish that had become a common sight in her native seaside town, all the while holding onto a small box of fish that her mother had sent her home with under her arm.

Tucking it slightly higher after it had slipped from her hold, she retreated back into her imaginary little world and continued to play her self-invented game which mostly involved jumping from stone to loose stone, as far as she could go and avoiding all the nasty things that lied on the road around them.

Her mother had given her ample warning not to loiter in the streets too much and to head straight home from the market so she was forced to cut her time outside short if she wanted to avoid a scolding. Which to her was a bloody shame (not that she would use those exact words) because she saw so little of her friends as it was and if she couldn't even go out in broad daylight to see them, then what was there to _do _besides continuous and never-ending chores?

She was so absorbed in her thoughts and calculated jumps that she only noticed the animal when she was nearly nose to nose with it. She was so startled that her foot slipped on a loose stone and she had to put in all of her effort to not fall or drop her box. Gasping, she stood frozen still, her eyes locked with the yellow-green eyes of the beast in front of her and little fingers cramping around the cheap cardboard of her package.

The animal was so out of place in the drab background of crumbling buildings, screeching seagulls and street rubbish that it almost appeared to be a cut-out from a much brighter, newer photo that had been subsequently posted into an old dreary one. It was a cat; she could ascertain that much but it didn't look anything like the miserable animals that wondered the streets, unkempt and starving.

It didn't look like _any _cat she had ever seen. It was large, for one, even while sitting down it was nearly eye-level with her but what grabbed her attention the most was the thick, luxurious orange-yellow coat it sported, decorated with little stripes and spots and those ridiculous little tufts of hair on the tips of its ears.

Just now, one of them twitched, in curiosity or boredom she didn't know, and she couldn't help but laugh at how silly it looked. The cat, far from startled or even apprehensive like most wild animals in the presence of humans, moved his ears again and she couldn't help but break out into peals of laughter.

"Silly cat!_" _she giggled, nervously shuffling on her feet. Oh, how she wanted to go near the cat and feel if its fur felt as soft as it looked, and maybe even try tugging on one of those bizarre little ears! But her mother had warned her not to go near any animals if she could help it and as friendly as it looked it was still very large and so _strange_.

She had seen pictures of tigers and lions at school and none of them looked like this one did. In a flash of inspiration, she quickly opened the box that she was carrying under the watchful gaze of the large feline and took out one of the smaller fishes (although they were all depressingly small anyway) and gingerly held it out to the cat in an outstretched arm.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty!" she called, giving the long-dead fish a little shake in hopes of making it appear more tempting to the animal. It seemed to work for it stood up from its previous position, sitting on its haunches and languidly moved closer, its eyes never leaving hers.

When the cat had nearly reached her outstretched hand she could have sworn she had felt something funny, like a gentle breeze against her eyes and mind but as soon as she had noticed it the sensation was gone, and she blinked at the sight of the cat, now a good several feet away, quickly and efficiently consuming the fish until it was all gone.

She had begun to pout (the ears, damnit!) when her eyes widened in shock – the cat had _bowed _to her, honest to god! Shrugging it off in childish ignorance (it was only polite to bow after all) she returned the gesture with a snigger, only to find the street glaringly empty once she lifted her eyes again.

Slightly confused and more than a little disappointed, she continued to trek home, wondering how she was going to explain the absence of the fish to her mother who had made sure to count them before handing them to her, only to find a small, perfectly white cardboard box on the porch of her house.

Puzzled, she looked around the busy street only to find the townspeople far too busy and engrossed with their own problems to notice one small, scruffy girl with a mysterious box. Gingerly she picked it up (surely it was for them, why would someone go out of their way to place it directly in front of their door otherwise?) popped open the lid and gasped in surprise and nearly dropped the box on the floor. It was full to the brim with perfectly aligned, juicy large fish and on top if was a small white card, bearing a single word: Thank-you.

Laughing, she placed the key inside the battered lock and pushed open the door, but not without turning around first and yelling out a loud "thank-you", certain that somehow her fuzzy new friend could hear her, equally certain that it was him (or her, she reminded herself) that had given her enough food so that her mother wouldn't have to worry about dinner for a while, all the while never leaving the bemused pair of yellow-green eyes that followed her every move until she closed the door. With a little snort of amusement, the lynx promptly disappeared without a trace.

* * *

He had been running for over an hour when the first scent that was undeniably human hit his nose, causing him to stop in his tracks and crouch down in the scrub, eyeing his surroundings wearily. Unlike mutts who spent their lives with their heads to the grounds and asses in the air, _his _primary senses were his superb hearing and eyesight, but even so his sense of smell was very much superior to that of humans, so if his nose told him that there were humans here, it meant that humans were (or had been) in the area relatively recently.

Taking a few more guarded sniffs of air, he concluded that the mixture of scents were those of fishermen that had left not too long ago and as such, were probably unlikely to return for some time. The important thing was, however, that there _were_ humans.

So far, any attempt to place the region by climate and wildlife had proven impossible – studying potions required a certain level of knowledge in herbology and he was proficient in most of the basic herbs and plants that existed around the world, but the plants so far were either completely alien to him or so nondescript that they could have grown practically anywhere.

And anyway, if his stunt with the water had proven anything it was that previous knowledge had to be applied carefully here. No, if he wanted reliable information, he would need to get it fresh from the source and that meant finding humans. Making sure that there was nobody watching him, he darted out from the bushes and continued his sprint, the scent of human, fish and salt-water growing in intensity the nearer he came to his destination.

He had been pondering the glaringly obvious lack of magic in _any _form so far in his journey when his sensitive ears picked up the sounds that were clearly emanating from a settlement of some sorts and changed his course accordingly, coming to a rest when the first buildings had come into sight. Even while marginally more athletic whilst in beast form, his lack of exercise was catching up to him and he found himself near the end of his tether by that point.

Rather than getting to the stage where he would need to loll his tongue out like a _dog, _he chose to find shelter in the shade of an abandoned building and mercilessly squished down his pride in order to drink from a puddle that had been formed, _hopefully_ from a recent rainstorm.

Loud voices, sharp and snappish sounded not too far from him, and he found himself peering around the corner of the crumbling wall to take a look at the people whose world he had inadvertently landed in (all the while more or less seriously praying that they were NOT aliens).

What he saw was both a cause for relief and concern. These people were clearly Asian in descent, their language and facial features spoke all too clear, so the alien theory had been refuted but he found himself concerned about the fact that he couldn't understand what they were talking about except for the occasional word or phrase that he recognised.

They were clearly not speaking Chinese, the only Asian language he could recognise and understand a little of without the constant help of a dictionary so that meant that he would have to learn a new language if he was going to make it here, at least for the time being.

Doing it the hard way would raise unnecessary suspicion as small rural settlements rarely welcomed foreign strangers who couldn't speak a word of the language… but on the other hand, doing it the "easy" way was morally questionable and could land him in heaps of trouble if there _were _wizards in this world.

His dilemma was answered for him when one of the men came careening straight for the building he was hiding behind. Quickly easing his way back into bipedal form he grasped his wand and waiter for the man to walk past. As soon as he did so, rubbing a large bump on his forehead and clearly complaining in a load, grating voice he found himself unable to remember who he was, where he was going and even the pain in his head which had receded to a dull ache at the back of his mind. The only thing he saw before his mind was wiped clean of the encounter was a pair of large eyes of indescribable colour tearing through his mind.

* * *

Sighing, the large feline continued his trek through the maze of crumbling buildings that made up the small seaside town. While he had gained some understanding of the language from the man he had confounded and used Legilimency on, he was still far from proficient at it – stealing memories was not an effective way to gain linguistic skills and all he had gained from his encounter was a headache, some rudimentary grammar and verbs and a whole lot of colourful insults he hadn't even known were possible. But what had piqued his interest was the name "Gato" or "Gatou", he wasn't clear on the precise pronunciation.

His tour through the man's mind was very brief in nature so he hadn't the slightest who the man was or what he had done to warrant such… err, colourful praises but apparently he was an important man around here, and very influential.

Cursing to himself about having forgotten to look at some basic geography of the region he meandered through the rubbish-clad streets, lost in thought until he heard the shocked gasp of a little girl, probably no more than 5 years old, staring at him in wide-eyed wonder. Crap. How had he allowed her to get so close, he should have been able to sense her a good hundred feet away! _Hear _her, if nothing else. Had the absence of the barrier made him foolishly complacent?

* * *

After he had followed her to make sure she got home in one piece and received his present (he couldn't, in clear conscience, take something from someone so obviously poor without giving something back) he apparated to a spot that was within viewing distance of the village but out of the way of the beaten tracks, choosing it as his first semi-permanent base.

He had a lot of thinking to do, and as he warmed up his sautéed beef in the small kitchen of his tent, his mind kept wandering back to the small girl whom he had mistaken for a five-year-old. The brief surface scan he had done on her mind revealed to him that her name was Saika, she was actually seven years old, hopelessly in love with his ears (he snorted to himself) and was living in desperate poverty along with the vast majority of other villagers because of reasons beyond her childish comprehension.

Lying down on his bed, he sighed and closed his eyes, letting his restless mind to calm down and form some impression of order on its own. But the only thing he could come up with was that living in the real world was a damn lot harder than he had expected, and that dealing with children (he had never really met a child – in person!- before) was strangely… nice.

Although it was only a few hours past noon he felt exhausted and sore, the running he had done not helping in the least. He opened his tired eyes only long enough to grab a thick silken duvet he hadn't resisted in taking from his own bed back at the mansion and curled into it with a content noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr.

* * *

"You're such a liar Saika. This isn't exactly the first time that you've made up some stupid girly stuff and believed it real." The small boy snorted, kicking at a random pebble on the dusty street. The small girl in question seemed to puff up in anger, her hands pressed into her sides with vehemence that made the boy swallow in apprehension.

"I am NOT lying, Inari! How do you explain the big batch of fish we had for dinner, then? And the cat even wrote a thank-you note; I can show it to you! Better yet, maybe we can meet him tomorrow and give him another fish! Cat's love fish!"

The girl clamoured excitedly, the boy trying to look stern, grown-up and disbelieving in front of his smaller friend, while a small part of him that was present in every child couldn't help but wonder if there was a grain of truth in what she was saying.

And besides, he mused looked at the beaming friend of his friend, anything that took their minds off the horrible world that was Gatou's domain was welcome in his book, so he might as well humour his high-pitched friend and go with her to look for the "cat with the cute ears" that gave presents.

* * *

**AN: **Hooray! I give you... chapter the second! I barely touched this one, only worked on the grammar made the paragraphs slightly more manageable. (If this is the revised version, you _don't _want to see the original…)

I know that "large cat" is ridiculously overused as an animagus form but I actually did some research on the lynx that makes it (in my opinion) fit with his character and his role in the story to come. The only difference is that lynxes have short bobbed tails, whereas my wizard extraordinaire, has a full-length tail. Mostly because his author is an idiot who forgot about this little bit of animal trivia. ^.^

There's still some grammar errors no doubt, but I've given up on getting rid of them _all_, so I just try to weed out the vast majority. :)

Thank you to anyone who reviewed! There seemed to be some cautious optimism for the story and for that, I salute you. ^.^

**Nammu: **Thank you. ^.^ It's nice to see that at this point, the story isn't _completely _bad, although there's plenty of room for it to do so. XD But yes, this is NOT a self-insert fic. For one, I'm a ferret person, who's suspicious of cats. XD

**Rinnala**: I couldn't agree more – after some time away from the story I re-read the chapter and **_I_** couldn't get to the end of it without going cross-eyed. Hopefully, it's a bit better now. Thanks for the comment!

**Genobeast**: Oh, it's going to get a whole lot more complicated pretty soon. ;)

**KafeiDetour**: I have the course of the story (the bare skeleton) planned out, and I intend to make this story slightly different than the route taken with cannon Harry Potter characters. Here's to making it readable! O.o

**salamanderzrock: **Thanks... debayo! ;) I'm glad you liked it.

**Starkaster: **I've always had a problem with introductions ;) Nevertheless, thanks for reviewing. Once again: if people don't tell me what's wrong, I can't make it better. I've made _loads _of corrections based on what people have told me. So keep it coming!

**CrescentMelody**: *cringe* That bad? I can do better! I swear! *sniff*

**Ndasuunye: **Wow, thanks a lot! That comment made me smile like a lunatic. ;) I hope that you'll enjoy the rest of the story as well because it diverges quite radically from most fan-fics that I've encountered. Nevertheless... thanks. ^.^


	3. Chapter 3

~ Chapter 3 ~ The Beginning

* * *

So far, Inari was far from impressed with Saika or her imaginary cat friend. They had been wondering the streets of the village for over an hour now and there was still no hide or hair of her "magical" benefactor.

And the worst part was that the girl couldn't even find it in herself to act embarrassed! She kept skipping along the loose cobblestones of the street, humming and generally NOT acting like someone on an undertaking to find anyone. As far as he could tell, they weren't even going in any particular direction – she had even managed to drag him to the village market, picking up a sorry-looking fish on the way although she claimed to have met the animal near the _outskirts_ of the village, not far from her home. Did she just bring him along because she didn't want to spend the day alone?

"OK, Saika. You got me – I fell for the whole cat story, good for you. Now can we please…?".

All words were abruptly stopped by the girl who turned around swiftly and adapted the "you're-so-stupid" look that only small children could pull off with such conviction.

"You're such an idiot, Inari! Do you think the cat would appear just anywhere? No, we're going to follow the exact same route I went when we met him… or her." She trailed off, momentarily lost in gender-related contemplation. How could you tell a male cat from a female without looking… there?

The dark-haired boy beside her sighed in an exaggerated motion, clearly showing how childish he thought she was being. That ox! She just _wanted _to see the look on his face when they did find the animal, he would be so gobsmacked!

And maybe the broody kid would even manage a smile or two; he was so ridiculously serious after… well, a reason that wasn't worth thinking about. She was going to find the cat, cheer up her friend and maybe even get some more fish from the friendly beast.

Upon returning home her mother had been very surprised and clearly suspicious when her daughter had presented her with the food, even more so when the little girl had vehemently denied telling her where she had gotten it from, only insisting that it was certainly _not _stolen.

Her mother had accepted the box muttering about being too tired to argue with her but the seven-year-old had seen the brief look of relief that smoothed out at least some of her mother's perpetually worried frown. Nodding to herself in conviction (and convincing Inari that his friend was cheerfully skipping down the path of insanity) she continued her march onward.

They weren't far from the long, winding dirt road that spanned the side of the village and where she had first met the tuft-eared cat she had already mentally dubbed as her friend. "Come ON Inari, you're such a slowpoke!" She complained, dragging the reluctant boy by the hand. He felt his face flush and prayed that nobody he knew would see him like that, dragged around the village by a younger GIRL – whatever they were looking for, it had better be worth it!

"It's right here, just around the corner!" She chattered, closing her eyes dramatically and rounding the corner of what used to be a bakery once. She turned around, opened them and found– nothing. An empty dirt road, littered with rubbish and void of anything living.

Her heart fell in disappointment, most of which had nothing to do with how foolish she must have looked in front of her older friend. She had really thought that the animal would be there and felt oddly betrayed by his absence.

_"Maybe I did imagine it…"_ She thought sadly, hanging her head and turning her face away from her friend so he wouldn't see her "girly" tears.

Inari, on the verge of saying something scathing along the lines of "I told you so!" quickly changed his mind when he noticed the truly dejected look on his friend's face, as if she had really believed in what she had told him the previous day. Not really feeling like gloating anymore, he awkwardly placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her an unenthusiastic little shake.

"Come on…" He murmured, desperately trying to come up with something to say to the crying female. They never covered something like this in school and in his opinion that would have been far more useful in life than, let's say, algebra.

"I'm sure your friend's just busy." He trailed off awkwardly, perfectly aware that he was trying to comfort a girl about her imaginary friend not turning up. The extra fish were probably just a result of her father getting lucky during fishing and somehow avoiding Gatou's henchmen who usually took the lion's share of anything caught.

Still holding on to her shoulder, he gently turned both of them around in order to take her to his house (her parents were never home during midday and he didn't feel like leaving her alone), only to come face to face with a pair of large, piercing yellow-green eyes.

Although he would categorically deny it later, Inari gave a shrill scream (the cat twitched its tufted ears and winced) and scrambled backwards, only to trip on a loose stone and fall on his backside. Even then he continued to scuttle backwards like an awkward crab, his heart trying to hammer its way out of his chest.

"Wha…?" He opened and closed his mouth like a fish, eyes wide and unblinking, _disbelieving. _

"Kitty, you came!" His friend cheered, hastily wiping away the tears that stained her cheeks, a gleaming smile plastered on her face once more.

The cat remained silent and still, its strangely coloured eyes fixed on Inari with unnerving intensity. Since the cat hadn't shown any intention to attack the boy, he felt confident enough to shakily rise to his feet although his face still had a greenish tinge to it, as if he was about to be sick at any moment.

Saika, oblivious to her friend's obvious discomfort was offering the great feline the fish, which it accepted with surprisingly good grace (it didn't look too fresh) and ate, quickly and neatly, flashing the occasional razor-like fang while doing so.

"Who's silly now, huh, Inari?" The little girl gloated, seemingly having forgotten that she was crying only minutes before. That Inari couldn't argue with – while a part of him pointed out that just because the cat had _incidentally _shown up just as they had arrived didn't mean that it was _magical_, something about the creature made it terribly difficult to dismiss it as a wayward pet or a wild animal simply used to humans.

There was obvious _amusement _in its eyes, for one and the fact that while it wasn't in any way _aggressive _towards them it didn't seem like he was apprehensive or submissive either, like it had wanted to be here and tolerated their presence only because it could.

While not nearly as comfortable with their feline companion as his friend (who was pouting in disappointment when the cat had refused all attempts of petting by the enthusiastic girl), he decided that the cat did not harbour any immediate ill-will towards them and relaxed slightly, taking a closer look at the animal who seemed to be doing the exactly same thing to him.

For a moment he could have sworn he felt something resembling a warm breath ghosting over his eyes and temples but it lasted for only a few seconds and the boy just wrote it off on the general weirdness of the day.

The eyes drew his attention first – large, slightly slanted and in a tone that seemed to consist of various speckles of individual colours on a grey base up close but blended into a dark yellow-green with distance. Also, when the first shock of meeting it had faded he noticed that it wasn't quite as large as he had previously thought, reaching the size of a very large dog (the thick fur notwithstanding) but still large enough to make it a dangerous predator, if the flashes of fangs and claws (it had briefly stopped the staring contest to stretch, languidly twisting its spine) were anything to go by.

To summarise – if the cat had wanted to, it could have made short work of himself and Saika with little to no threat to itself. But as it was, it was sitting on its haunches, its thickly furred tail brushing against the dirty street in lazy strokes.

"Stop standing there like a vegetable and come say hello!" Saika's voice effectively drew him out of his musing and he looked (still somewhat nervously) to the cat that was watching him, unblinking, expectant…? "_Can it understand what she's saying?" _He thought, shocked.

"Come ON, scaredy-cat!" She laughed, poking him in the ribs. Inari felt briefly angry with his scatterbrained companion – (What was he supposed to do, shake its paw? Or maybe do a curtsy?) – But quickly deflated, too used to her by now to feel truly annoyed. Recalling that the cat seemed to react well to presents, he quickly but without much enthusiasm searched through his pockets, seriously doubting that he had anything on his person that could interest the chestnut mammal.

His fingers grazed against something both sticky and paper-like in texture, which upon pulling it into daylight turned out to be a peppermint candy, old and half-melted from the heat of his body. He would have thrown it away if he hadn't noticed the cat perking up, taking deep whiffs of air from the direction of his hands.

Confused, the dark-haired boy unfolded the cheap piece of candy from its adhesive wrapping and held it out to the cat, placing it on the palm of his hand. To his surprise (and slight fear) the cat did not hesitate to snatch the piece of candy from his hand, causing the boy to flinch at the sensation of abrasive whiskers smoothing over his palms. However, the contact was over as abruptly as it started and the cat retreated to its previous position and quickly crushed the semi-melted peppermint in its powerful jaws.

"_Saika's cat likes peppermints, then_." The boy thought weakly, noticing that his heartbeat had surreptitiously increased while the cat had approached him. The animal, after licking its muzzle clean bowed to the surprised boy and giggling girl. Inari, not wanting to offend the strange cat followed Saika's example and bowed back, only to be taken aback by the glaring absence of the animal the moment he lifted his eyes.

Saika, pronouncing this as normal behaviour beckoned to the silent boy making it clear that she wanted to go home. Cautiously, he went over to the exact location that the cat had been sitting in, peering at the surface of the dirt road. There was nothing there beyond the usual debris – no paw-prints or any other sign that the cat had been there at all. A slight chill ran down the slender boy's back and he abruptly turned and followed the retreating figure of his friend, casting one last glance at the street where it had all happened before he rounded the corner and lost sight of it.

Saika was not surprised but nevertheless joyful when she spied the familiar white box standing innocently on her front porch. Inari however was taken aback at the sight of the identical-looking white parcel in front of _his_ entrance. It couldn't have been there for more than half an hour at most, his mother would have surely noticed it.

When he picked it up and opened the lid, he found it full to the brim with foreign but clearly expensive sweets with a note lying on top of them bearing a single word of gratitude. As he stood there, shocked, he failed to notice the door opening, his mother's pretty but worn features brightening at the sight of her son.

"Inari, where have you been all day? What is that you're holding?" She enquired, wiping her hands on a dishtowel she had been using just before.

"A… friend gave it to me. A trade, of sorts." He mumbled, smiling as he passed her through the doorway. She looked puzzled but didn't question him any further, deciding that her son would speak to her if he would wish so.

* * *

This time it was barely the crack of dawn when he peered through the doorway of his faded old tent, the faint traces of light barely illuminating his features. The air was fresh and crisp despite the permanent presence of salt and he allowed himself to simply bask in it for the time being, revelling in the knowledge that the breeze ghosting across his cheeks was real and not a magic-induced imitation.

So far, he had been relentlessly putting off the formulation of a proper plan of action, giving himself the excuse of being too overwhelmed with the prospect of his lifetime's work coming to a completion and the abrupt change in circumstances. It could not be delayed any further, though.

Stepping out fully from the confines of this tent the faux-adolescent sunk down to his knees in a meditative position and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths and letting his mind work at a pace it was naturally comfortable with.

First, he categorised what he already knew – a) he was in an alien dimension that was, nevertheless, populated by beings that appeared to be human and b) wherever it was that he landed in was undeniably Asian-like in culture and language. A "c" was, for now, non-existent.

For one, he did not know if there was any magic in the world but so far, he had blatantly used magic in front of a muggle girl without any authorities coming to look for him or the cause of the enormous magical backlash that occurred as a result of his "trip". Therefore, if there was a magical community it was either very lax or their influence didn't reach within the region.

The fact of the matter was that since the day he had been born he had _always _been in the presence of magic and pretty potent magic at that. What he had at first dismissed as a night-time chill had persisted until he noticed that it receded while in the presence of objects containing magic, hinting that the cold was just his body's way of telling him that there was an unprecedented absence of magic in his surroundings.

And while magic was less prevalent in areas with high muggle populations it was still highly suspicious that there were _no _traces of new or old wards or spells within the city and _no _even marginally magical herbs or creatures in the surrounding forests, not even a wood fairy- and they could be as common as cockroaches in some areas.

He sighed, tilting his head back. All this meant that he would have to execute extreme caution in his future dealings with these people. He didn't want to give them an incentive to try out their hands at witch burnings.

Secondly, if the off chance that he would be living with muggles for the remainder of his life, he had to get a feel of the political and economic situation. Was there a democratic government or an autocratic one? What sorts of laws were there and who enforced them? And while he could tell that this particular village was clearly doing badly money-wise, what was the rest of the country like? What about the other continents?

He scratched his depressingly smooth cheek and continued to ponder, trying to come up with a plan that was both careful and efficient – he had decided to make language a priority as well as some basic geopolitical background. He had yet to see any muggle vehicles like cars but he had seen enough to ascertain that the people had at least a rudimentary grasp of muggle technologies.

_"Great. As if I'm not completely out of my depth as it is_." He chuckled. "_Wouldn't it be grand if I made it all the way here only to get killed because I didn't know how to use a muggle kitchen appliance." _

Also, there was the pressing matter of identity and integration. While he could easily fake most muggle identification papers or charm the people to conveniently forget about him and his glaring aesthetic differences, how long could he go on living, magic-ing people left and right to suit his needs? The thought didn't sit well with him; it was too risky, was rather rude and didn't offer a permanent solution to his identity problem. The bottom line was that if he was going to properly assimilate himself into this world, he would have to create at least a semi-stable "history", including a name and preferably, an occupation.

_"I could be a witchdoctor. I have the hat." _He smirked. "_Or tradesmen. Not difficult when you can fix things with a flick of your wrist..". _The idea had merit so he stowed it away for future referencing, for now content with the plan to just collect more information.

Deciding that he had direction enough, the man left his tent and belongings unpacked for the time being and instead silently apparated to a secluded building within the village. He needed information and in order to do that, he needed a suitable… victim.

* * *

By midday he felt mentally tired but pleased with his progress. A few mind-screens of less than savoury characters here, the odd copied book there and he was on his way of piecing together the puzzle that was the Land of Waves, as he had discovered it was called. He had decided, in the end, to obtain the language through a mixture of translating charms and rituals (for both visual and auditory messages) rather than going through with his original plan which more or less involved kidnapping someone and carefully selecting and copying years worth of information without permanently damaging his (or their) mind.

The mind arts were a terribly tricky and finicky skill to master and he did not feel confident enough in his abilities to use them at this point - he simply had too much to lose. But there was a price to be paid for his decision as grammar and verbs acquired through Legilimency tended to wield the more… natural results: translation spells were fine if both parties involved knew that they were being used but if one person was trying to imitate natural speech, problems could arise.

A clever conversation partner would quickly realise that they could remember speaking to him and the general meaning of the message but never the exact words used as they were little more than tricks of magic to fool their ears into believing that a conversation was being held. Plus, it would inhibit the mind's natural abilities to pick up new languages but there was nothing to be done for it until he had time to go through with a language course or something of that sort.

From what he could gather from his research, he was in a rather small country/island called the "Land of Waves", located next to a much larger country going by the name "Land of Fire" or "Fire Country". So far, all the countries he had seen were named either after an element or geographic feature, which was odd, but certainly not unheard of. There were several places in Britain called Avon, for example, and the word itself meant no more than "river". Originally enough, there was even a River Avon.

What confused him though was that while the maps almost certainly showed a continent, there were no maps of anything beyond the continent of "hidden countries", or even a generic world map or globe. That being said, the only bookshop in Wave was in a rather pitiful condition and as such, probably didn't hold stock that people weren't interested in buying.

The laws weren't all that different from what he could tell (although he had little to no experience with jurisdiction and law so couldn't be certain) but the politics had grabbed his attention. Apparently while the feudal era was long gone here there were still a ruling monarchy in place for most countries, an emperor or king of sorts that ruled over their respective domain, with _ninja _of all things acting as a military force.

While the little boy inside him was doing a little jig of excitement at the fact, the mature part of his brain was slightly worried. Unlike in the muggle world back home (and to an extent, the magical world as well) not anyone could enter law-enforcement or the military – the skills they expected in the martial arts required a good deal of dedication and mental strength - they were bound to be at least passably clever and on a constant look-out for details and inconsistencies that could force him to answer more questions than he was comfortable with answering or end up in prison as a spy… and that was if he was lucky.

* * *

Safely hidden behind his coat (which could double as a cloak of invisibility if the situation called for it) and a notice-me-not charm he wandered down a little used side street, spotting a grotty-looking man enjoying a cigarette in the process. Tightening his wand, he silently intoned the incantation that rendered the man glassy-eyed and slack-fingered - only hasty instructions from him stopped the man from dropping the cigarette and beginning to drool.

Instead, the man straightened, looking as if nothing had happened to interrupt his cigarette break and aimlessly wandered further down the street, disappearing behind a corner with the wizard right on his heels.

_This could get me a life sentence back home_. He mused, grudgingly breaking into the man's mind. Most of the images that assaulted his mind were unpleasant and at least a little violent in nature, revealing the man to be a petty criminal in the employment of the ever-present Gatou. "_So he's some sort of crime-lord_." He mused.

One image in particular caught his attention though and he forced his reluctant victim to bring it up to surface. The memory in itself was nothing special – the man had stolen something not very valuable that the victim had nevertheless wanted back and was pursued by what his victim's helpful mind identified as a ninja or _shinobi_. It wasn't very interesting and he would have left the memory after taking a good look at what constituted a ninja in this world when the man had _disappeared _in a puff of smoke and reappeared right in front of the unfortunate thief. The rest of the memory was simply the man being beaten up and hauled off to lock up but that one act had once again turned his understanding of the world upside down.

_"Magic_." He thought, stunned. No, magic needs a wand… usually. At least for something as difficult as apparition. And that smoke – that shouldn't have been there as well, but…

_"The thug knew." _He thought, erasing the memory of their meeting and sending the brute on his merry way. "_He was cursing him to high heavens but he knew… that they could do something like that, like it was expected. Normal. Do the wizards here just practice their art out in the open?" _He wondered, mind once again in whirlwind with possibilities, half-answers and more questions that he could consciously acknowledge.

Looking at the sun, he approximated the time to be around 2-3 pm. _"This is when I met the girl yesterday." _He smiled. "_I wonder…" _Yesterday he had decided that it was best if the limited his interactions with the locals and just stayed hidden until a more opportune time presented itself but the memory he had just seen changed his perspective quite a bit.

_"Even if they aren't strictly wizards… is what they're doing that different from what I can do? And anyway, at least I should go check – maybe the girl told her parents and now there's a village looking for a suspicious animal prowling the streets. That would… require immediate attention." _Mind made up, he smoothly melted down onto four legs and apparated without a sound.

When he saw that the little girl, _("Saika, was it?") _had returned with a friend in tow he couldn't help but tease a little, scaring the boy enough to send him sprawling to the floor with a rather undignified shriek (although his poor ears didn't appreciate THAT one bit).

When the girl had given him a fish again he was sorely tempted to refuse this time – he liked fish well enough (especially in bestial form) but he _preferred _them well cooked and in a tasty sauce. This, however… would blow his cover if he didn't accept it.

Wincing internally he swallowed it down as quickly as he could (the poor boy had turned rather green at this point. Wonder why?), gagging a little from the rather rancid taste. So when the boy (who's mind revealed him to be Inari, 9-years-old and a rather cynical youth from what he could tell) took out a peppermint candy he felt like he could hug the youth although he restrained that particular impulse – the boy would probably interpret the action as an attempt at mauling him.

The peppermint wasn't very sweet but it at least covered up some of the remaining taste in his mouth. "_Thank god. And people eat this stuff. They really are desperate if a community living so near water have to resort to eating… that_." He thought, feeling a brief surge of anger at the situation he was in.

Logic absolutely dictated that he didn't draw attention to himself, remain in the shadows and continue to observe, but… it was so _hard_! He would be the first to admit that he had lived an extremely sheltered life so far, so even though he had _heard _of such terms as poverty and subjugation this was the first time he got to see it in person, to interact with people directly affected by it. And it made him angry.

_"And didn't my magic take me here?" _He thought, pacing a hole into the ground in front of his tent. "_Of all the places, it took me here, a place where I have the direct choice of interfering or doing nothing, as I've always done before. What do I do? What CAN I do? I've seen the looks on their faces, their minds open to me… they've given up, and they don't really expect anything from their lives anymore. Only one man is doing something to deal with it, something to do with a bridge – but how does it tie in with what's going on? How will it help?" _He thought, his mind once again in turmoil.

_"What did you expect, though? A vacation? Would you have wanted it that way? And back to the question, what can I do? Go find this Gato person and then what? Kill him? Or take a page out of the "Dark Lord Manual" and make him into a puppet? That wouldn't help anything. Others would just get rid of him and take his place. The people have to do it themselves, get rid of this problem and show that they will not stand for it anymore or new bullies would just continuously show up and continue what was started." _Sighing, he looked up into the sky that seemed to be the only thing identical with his last home.

_"I thought that my life's work, my highest achievement had come and gone." _He thought, the once-fanatical dedication beginning to stir in his chest once more. _"I think my life is only just beginning_ – _and I think it's going to be an up-hill struggle all the way. So no change there, then."_

* * *

Strange things were happening in the Land of Waves and people couldn't help but whisper about it, even though getting caught at it would undeniably bring about the wrath of Gatou's henchmen who were in an unprecedented foul mood. They were little things, a strange series of coincidences that were not that suspicious by themselves but when you put it all together…

Over the span of the next two weeks or so the villagers started to report that small things, little boons of seemingly random luck had begun to happen around the village that couldn't be explained by conventional means – some claimed that they kept finding foodstuffs in previously barren pantries, others found their broken, stolen or vandalised property returned in perfect condition and while some others even went so far as to say that the various illnesses they had (but couldn't afford to treat) seemed to disappear overnight, as if they'd never existed.

Unbeknownst to the adults, the children did some whispering of their own, spreading stories of a big cat that could disappear into thin air and gave back whatever gift it was given tenfold.

However, the most adamant storytellers were the bridge builders, the few men still brave enough to go against Gatou. They swore on their sake (and to them, that was a pretty serious thing to do) that the bridge they were working on would always grow several feet overnight. One even claimed to have "accidentally" left a piece of equipment of the very edge of the bridge, only to find the edge several feet away the next morning. A man speculated that people who weren't ready to openly defy Gato were working on it overnight but the bridge builder cut them off by saying;

"Show me a bridge-builder who can work soundlessly, without tools and materials,"- he had said, - "and I won't tell you where you can stick your idea."-

At the same time Gatou, his business and everyone who was associated with the man kept running into seemingly uncoordinated bouts of bad luck that couldn't be explained. Just recently two ships carrying rather expensive goods from his corporate partners sunk while not far from the coast due to "strong winds", while little private-owned boats not too far were left completely unharmed.

His mercenaries who frequently went on little "terrorising trips" around Wave were constantly suffering from accidents leaving them in various states of debilitation. Wasn't it yesterday when one of them had tried to chase after a child that had slighted him, only to trip and shatter his ankle? On completely even ground?

The children, emboldened by their new ally began to become more audacious, openly playing in the streets and playing pranks on those that used to send them quivering in terror. The adults were horrified and tried to stop them but they persevered and in the end, somehow always escaped detection and harm. However, real change didn't occur until one fateful afternoon.

A group of ragtag children, Saika at the forefront, were playing a loud rambunctious game in the town square, perfectly aware of the amused pair of yellow-green eyes watching them from the shadows of a small alleyway. The song they were singing mainly consisted of a rather unflattering description of a local business tycoon. A thin, sallow looking man with a sour countenance and cruel eyes was growing increasingly angry until he descended upon the group, grabbing the nearest child.

"You bothersome little rat, watch your tongue._" _He snarled, but before he could do anything more than hiss his warnings, he sprung back, clutching his face and keening in pain. A heavy cobblestone, splattered with blood fell with a clutter next to him. A woman, equally red in the face - from anger and fright of her own daring - was standing not too far off. Not pausing long, she picked up an equally hefty stone and flung it as well, although missing this time.

**"**Don't you dare touch my son!" She yelled. "You god-damn monster!" She continued to scream, grasping at something, anything to throw. "I am sick of you, I'm sick of Gato and I'm sick of this _shit_! "She screamed, throwing a wide arm at the sorry looking town around her. The surrounding townspeople were silent and didn't dare look at her, but their attention was clearly on her and they did not try to stop her as they may have done just weeks before in order to spare the town of Gatou's retribution.

"Get out!" She yelled, lobbing a piece of trash she had found on the floor. The man was still groaning in pain though so didn't even attempt to dodge. The man's bodyguards, who had been stunned into complete immobility before now quickly descended unto the woman, their faces dark.

Some of the villagers began to protest weakly, but when the group of children started to run at the hulking mercenaries they quickly grew far more alarmed and rushed at them, grabbing anything that may have passed as a weapon. The guards struggled, but they were acting… off. Some noticed that their movements were sluggish and underpowered but the crowd, high on adrenaline didn't pay much notice. After the last body hit the ground with a soft thud, the people stilled, stunned into disbelief at their own audacity. However, the calm didn't last long.

"We did it." One man whispered, wide-eyed and flushed. "I can't believe it. We just… we just did that. They were so many, but… there were more of us." Whispers broke out again, this time excited, people describing to each other in nitty-gritty detail exactly where they were standing and what they did, completely oblivious to the fact that their neighbours had been there too.

"What are we going to do with the bodies?" Somebody asked, and a laughing voice called over the square. "Lug them in the bloody bay, that's where Gato's dogs belong!"

As the crowd left, lugging the unconscious bodies of the men with them, the group of children stayed momentarily behind, winking exaggeratedly at the place they knew the cat had been hiding in before scrambling after their parents. The lynx snorted before disappearing as well.

* * *

He couldn't help but smile at the events of the day but he knew that what he had done had ignited a small spark of protest at best. The brutality of Gato's regime was still too fresh on everybody's minds to be overcome that easily. And if Gato got over his legendary avariciousness and hired ninja to deal with the recent surge in insubordination… there could be problems. Any consequent research he had done on ninja had revealed very little – although not so secretive as wizards back home they were still clearly protective of their abilities and secrets.

He was a planner and an ambusher, not a dueller – so what was the point of having masses of power at your disposal if your opponent just snapped your neck before you got in a word edgewise? He could only wait and continue to research, allowing time to take its course.

He just sincerely hoped that his actions wouldn't cause the deaths of innocent people. The real world was a strange, unpredictable and daunting place to be when you didn't have the luxury of being coated in what was essentially magical bubble-wrap anymore. He just didn't know with any degree of certainty what would happen due to his intervention. Only time would tell.

* * *

**AN**: And it's chapter the third! "The Cat" has discovered the plight of the people of Wave and, not being used to such a situation, starts to poke things to get them going.

He's very sheltered and although he isn't naïve enough to think that exploitation doesn't exist, seeing it firsthand for the first time has a powerful impact on the wizard (who's really quite a softie).

Thank you to everyone who has read and commented on the chapters so far! I can't make a story better without criticism, so fire away! ;)

**salamanderzrock: **They will indeed find the cute kitty. ;)

**Hi**: I know, have come to accept it and am working on ridding myself of a bad habit. ^.^

**My Solitude: **He finally enters the Naruto universe and makes contact! Not major contact but for our poor shy wizard, this is Progress with a capital "P". And I've corrected the mishap with the chapters... I think. O.o

**Silmr3**: Yeah, that it as issue that is a double-edged sword. Perfect characters _are _somewhat irritating, but on the other hand – someone who was _overwhelmingly_ average couldn't have gotten to where he is now so I made him extraordinary if not for his skill then for his circumstances.

**Kitine1: **Thank _you_ for reviewing. ^.^

**Elspeth**: I sincerely doubt the "well written" (stupid grammar) but I'm glad to see that the story has some merit – even if it's going to take a major turn in the next… 10 chapters or so. XD

**GenoBeast**: _How _will my poor sheltered wizard deal with the general nastiness of the humankind? Stay tuned. XD


	4. Chapter 4

~ Chapter 4 ~ The Arrival

* * *

The situation between the village in the Land of Waves and Gatou's subordinates only escalated as the people became more audacious and the bridge came closer to completion. Despite the efforts of the resident wizard, he couldn't keep everyone from being hurt (it would be glaringly conspicuous anyway) but to his relief, none of the injuries were lethal or debilitating but only seemed to further fan the villagers' flames of anger and defiance towards their oppressors.

People began to group together, placing tentative trust into each other again now that they seemed to have a common goal and stood up for each other when the situation called for it. In wake of their fear, especially after the rather brutal murder (he couldn't find it in himself to call it an "execution") of a man named Kaiza, they had forgotten that even though the people in Gatou's employ were better armed and trained, they significantly outnumbered them and an angry crowd had a rather profound psychological effect on a prospective opponent.

The men who once strutted through the village is if they were masters over it now didn't dare to enter it at all (not to mention dare making trouble) unless unaccompanied by groups of other mercenaries. They too were talking about someone or something helping the villagers and even though Gato offered a reward to anyone who could offer information and threatened those harbouring "the terrorist", none came forward. Why would they turn in someone who, with each passing day, struck more terror into the hearts of those they hate? "_Not that we know who it actually is." _They mused.

In the meanwhile, "the cat" or "Neko-san" as he was being called hadn't been wasting time but kept gathering information and turned to doing the one thing he had a semblance of confidence in – warding. These included both generic protective and monitoring ones on the village as a whole, traps on well-known perpetrators and supporters of Gato and special protection on key sites and individuals that were most at risk from Gatou's wrath.

This turned out to be wise decision as not too long after he had placed the last protective layer, several aspiring saboteurs aiming for the fledgling bridge ended up in the waters of the surrounding island and were forced to stay there until a few of their buddies went out by boat to fish them out. The only thing they came up with was that they were forced into some sort of "jutsu-thing" that wouldn't allow them to move for shore.

_"You were lucky." _The lynx's tail moved sharply, its eyes narrowed on to the gesticulating figures of the drenched men.

_"You could've ended up __under __the water, unable to break the surface._" Incidentally, that had been the aim of the original version of the spell he had done some tweaking on. He snorted, disappearing into the trees. _"But could I have willingly let someone drown?" _His mind whispered. He didn't know. He didn't know how far he was willing, _able _to go.

He had experienced violent bouts of temper before but then a rather powerful magic barrier and creatures that could take very good care of themselves had surrounded him. He couldn't afford something like this here, even if it was just for the sake of not attracting the attention and wrath of those far less lenient with his quirks and moods (and, most likely, getting himself killed in the process).

"_And planned, cold-blooded murder is a completely different matter_ _than throwing about curses in a fit of rage." _His mind supplied, ever so helpfully. He supposed that it was a bridge he would have to cross when (or if) he had to. For the time being, he would try to minimise bloodshed.

Unfortunately, the success of _that _commitment would be entirely up to Gatou – while the greedy entrepreneur was content to send in dumb and untrained thugs who were motivated entirely by greed (and possibly group pressure), the wizard would be fine with just putting out traps, getting them beaten up by fed-up villagers or simply sending them on a wild goose chase without even attempting any advanced spells, thus avoiding doing permanent damage.

However, if things continued the way they were… the tycoon would realise that he would have to up his ante if he was going to keep the people under his thumb for much longer, and that would inevitably end with ninjas. And if they were proficient in the use of magic or whatever it was that they were able to harness (but probably magic, he thought) than they would easily sense both his presence and involvement from a mile away – and it wouldn't be him who would be paying the price for it.

Just by "associating" with him (although none of the villagers knew anything of importance on his identity or whereabouts) they were placed at risk. The bridge builder, Tazuna (who was, incidentally, Inari's grandfather), had already been subject to various clumsy assassination attempts and threats and although they were yet to be successful it was, again, a matter of time. Having gained a little insight into Gatou's game at monopolising the economy he understood that if the people were to be permanently free from the man's grasp then the bridge had to be completed.

If, however, something was to happen to Tazuna or the bridge itself, the people would be devastated and he didn't know if they would be able to recover from a blow like that for a second time. Even now, with all the extra protection and the people's growing insubordination the bridge was slowly losing its workers, scared away be the potential of being seriously hurt by Gatou. Thankfully they were usually replaced by a more daring villager soon after but if Tazuna, the figurehead of the little operation was to give up…

All of it came down to the fact that if he was going to see this through, he would have to make contact – he couldn't expect the people to stand up against a very real and prolonged threat with only the vague assurances of unexplainable incidents that had been happening recently.

After much consideration, he came to the conclusion that it would be better if he was as reclusive as possible – the "unknown" factor was a great boon to the situation and made him all the more effective at terrorising Gatou's people– and that it couldn't be an adult. They would be (rightly) suspicious and would demand to know his past and reasons for wanting to help, and he doubted that they would be content with just an "it felt like the right thing to do" – these people were far more hardened by life than he was and wouldn't buy such an altruistic reason for a second. "I was bored" would probably go down better but somehow that seemed like just a little too callous for him to say.

After weighing up the pros and cons, he decided that it would have to be a child – but a child that would be taken at least somewhat seriously. He could just imagine a girl like Saika, trying to convince people to stand up to ninja with the assurances that "the magical kitty would protect us all". And that had left him with pretty much a single option…

* * *

"Inari." The silver feline addressed the shocked nine-year-old. He had met the animal on a number of instances, all the kids had but this was the first time he had heard it speak although it didn't surprise him as much as it should have. And even then "speak" wasn't the exact term he could use. It was more like the cat had made a noise and he had instinctively understood what it meant. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

"I know I don't appear like I usually do, but it is imperative that you listen carefully." The ghost-like creature intoned. Before, despite the animal's glaring absence of speech he had thought that it was a ninja-animal of some sort, helping by itself or doing the bidding of a ninja but now, he was not so sure anymore. Could nin-animals turn into ghosts?

"If you are willing to stop Gato… even at the risk of trusting someone who will not tell you the entire truth about themselves… meet me where we first met… you will not see me, but I will be there. I will not blame you if you do not come. That is all that I can say to you at the present time."

The animal finished, popping out of existence via numerous silvery-blue wisps (_"Of chakra?" _Inari wondered_) _that disappeared in a matter of seconds. The boy was startled, undeniably so but he couldn't help but think over the proposal that an older villager would have probably rejected in an instant, too fearful to associate with something so _foreign_ in a time of great uncertainty.

_"At least he seemed honest_." He grudgingly admitted, moving rather hesitantly to the street where the whole fiasco had begun. Judging by the voice the mysterious benefactor was almost certainly male which meant that Saika would be disappointed, that was for sure - she had been rather certain that "it was a cat and cat's had to be female".

Anyway, the cat hadn't appeared to be aggressive or tried to coax him into coming, even going so far as to outright claim that he would be keeping secrets if they did meet! But so far, the cat had been anything if not helpful and if there was a chance, even a slim chance of getting back at the man that he hated with all of his being he had to take it.

He wouldn't lie - he had thought that the fat man was invincible after the death of Kaiza, the man he had come to see as a father. He had thought that someone like Gato had to be unstoppable – he had money and he had thugs willing to do anything for a share of that money, what could stand up to that? Bravery? He snorted, bitterly. Kaiza had had bravery in spades, and look where that got them. But that outlook had crumbled a bit with the introduction of the cat into the picture.

Nobody had seen the animal if he didn't want to be seen – the adults talked about a mysterious benefactor for sure but the only ones who had an inkling of what was going on were the kids, the bottom of the food chain, the ones not taken seriously at all. So, by all conventional means, he was all but invisible. Nonexistent. He wasn't bound by any rules, he couldn't be hurt by the thugs and in the end, what could Gato do to someone invisible, intangible and completely impervious to the everyday problems people faced?

_But why is he talking to me now? Is something bad going to happen? _Inari bit his bottom lip, undeniably worried. Was Gatou planning something that the cat couldn't prevent? Somehow, that thought sent shivers down his spine. By the time he reached the old winding road he had worked himself into quite a state and when a disembodied not-quite-voice-but-something-similar whispered into his ears he simply couldn't stop the darkness that crept over his vision nor the sudden introduction of his head to the ground.

* * *

_"The kid fainted."_ He mused, using a simple diagnostic spell to ascertain that he had suffered from nothing more than a momentary loss of consciousness and a bump on the back of his head. Sure, he may have refrained from speaking quire so abruptly but he was pretty sure that he had warned the child about his lack of… visibility and the appearing/disappearing act was hardly anything new. With a flick of his wrist, Inari started to come to consciousness with a low groan.

"I apologise for scaring you, it was not my intention. How do you feel?" Inari cast al look around himself. The street was glaringly empty.

"I'm… OK." He mumbled. The voice continued, unseen and undetectable. It just _was_.

"As I said, you will not be able to see me but rest assured that I am right beside you and will stop any harm for befalling you due to your association with me. I have a few things to tell you, so I would appreciate if you gave me the chance to say what I have to say before making your decision. You may ask additional questions but I give no guarantee that I will answer them. Do you agree? Remember, if you do not wish to be here, you can leave. I will not hold it against you."

Despite the reassurance, Inari didn't feel like slighting an incorporeal cat that could beat up groups of thugs with almost embarrassing ease. He remained still and nodded. The cat had yet to let them down, after all.

"I cannot tell you my name, where I am from or give you any assurance of my loyalties beyond just giving you my word. If you are to trust me, you have to almost literally take a leap of faith. My allegiance? None – or, more accurately, to myself and whomever I chose to give it to. My reason for doing all this? Because I can. Oh, and despite whatever reasons you may have for thinking otherwise, I am not a ninja and have never been one. Are you still willing to listen to what I have to say?"

Pale but determined, Inari nodded once more, his lips pinched in thought. The disembodied voice moved away slightly, something that Inari was secretly relieved about.

"The villagers are starting to gain back some hope and that's good but if you're going to really be rid of Gatou and his influence the bridge has to be finished."

At this, Inari couldn't help but cut in.

"But you can turn invisible and fight people without touching and build bridges and heal people and… surely stopping Gato would be easy for you?"

Inari didn't like the whining tone his voice had adapted at that point but he couldn't help but ask, the questions had been weighing on his mind and they didn't let him truly trust the creature, not when he simply didn't understand why it did some of the things it did.

"I could…"The voice mused, sounding vaguely thoughtful. "I could build the bridge on my own, that's true. I could also kill Gatou…" By now, Inari was going to cut in with a question but the voice obviously foresaw this and continued before the boy could get a word in.

"… but I could just as easily, in terms of sheer ability, kill everyone in this village. What substitutes a "good" murderer from a "bad" one, hmm?" Inari was clearly doubtful and was going to voice this but the voice continued.

"I believe that if I were to do what you are obviously suggesting, to take someone's life, I would ultimately end up the man I am trying to fight. I don't go about weeding out people who are undesirable to me, Inari. Gatou had no right to do what he did…"

The boy hung his head, biting his lip once more.

"But neither do I. Do you understand? Maybe I'm being selfish in keeping my hands clean but that is something I believe in. And to answer your second question, what is it that you want to happen, to become of your village?"

Inari promptly opened his mouth but the voice once again cut him off.

"You want to be free, independent of outside manipulation, right? Could the villagers achieve that sense of realization, of freedom if they knew, at least subconsciously, that the key to their liberation isn't theirs? That they owe _everything _to one person? I'd feel trapped, if I were them. By someone else, hopefully someone slightly better…"

The voice snorted in wry amusement.

"… but still trapped. That is why, while I do I admit to helping out with the construction of the bridge, I feel that it is best for everyone involved if the bridge was mostly your own work, a product of Land of the Waves. I don't expect you do understand all of my reasoning, its mostly based on ridiculously complex adult-pride and whatnot, but I at least want you to know that I do have my reasons for not interfering that aren't born out of laziness or fear. At least, not always."

The boy, Inari was silent for a long time and he began to worry that he'd somehow ended up somehow hurting the boy or laying too much on his shoulders when he looked up, determination shining in his suspiciously glowing eyes.

"What is it that you want me to do?" He asked.

* * *

It had taken a while for him to explain his fears of Gato hiring ninjas to the young boy (_"But you can become _**_invisible_**!") but eventually he agreed to warn his grandfather and suggest that he'd think of hiring some of his own protection, just in case.

"I can protect him if it's just common thugs I'm dealing with, but I don't believe that this will be the case for long. I can keep him safe, for now, but if Gatou decides to invest in ninja and he will, I don't know how well I can cope. And what if they really can't find me, do you think they'll shrug their shoulders and go home? Or go after innocent people in hopes of drawing me out? You have to tell him to be careful and, if he can, invest in some ninja of his own, for protection. That probably won't be cheap but money isn't a problem, at least for me. The problem is getting them here without Gatou finding out about, or he'll just throw all caution to the wind and attack outright."

Inari nodded, still frowning. He opened his mouth but…

"Can you do that, Inari? Can you warn him for me? I believe that appearing before him myself would just raise a whole lot of unnecessary questions. Adults are like that, I'm afraid."

Inari gave a weak snort.

"Clearly, you haven't met my grandfather."

* * *

Unfortunately for Inari, when he returned home that night he was met by his mother Tsunami who informed him that Tazuna had used the cover of darkness to leave for the nearest hidden village, Village Hidden in the Leaves (or Konohagakure, as the natives called it) in hopes of hiring some ninja for protection.

"The work on the bridge is going so well that Gatou is certain to interfere." She had said, clearly worried about her… difficult father.

"We all got together and pooled the money. Things seem to be going so well so far, so if we can just hold out for a little longer…" She trailed off, pausing and clutching the nine-year-old closer to herself.

"We might just make it." She whispered. Inari just worried about whether the invisible cat knew about the new development and hoped that he could keep his grandfather safe.

* * *

It stands to reason that if you're sneaking through pitch-black darkness with possible assassins on your heels, it is rather disconcerting to have someone suddenly whisper in your ear. So it came as no surprise when, with a strangled yelp, the man darted to the left only to run headfirst into a tree with a soft thud. Groaning in pain, the man was prepared to run for it when he froze, literally so.

"Don't worry, Tazuna the Awesome Bridge-Builder." The voice whispered. "I promised your grandson that no harm would come you, so I would appreciate it if you didn't try to turn me into a liar."

Stunning the man and intensifying the protection on his person took some time and effort but soon enough the older man, completely oblivious of the encounter that had nearly sent him into a premature stroke hurried forward to his goal. As reckless as the man was being, Neko couldn't come up with a better alternative, not in the current circumstances. He could only hope that the frankly suicidal plan of lying to ninja wouldn't come to bite him and his family in the proverbial arse. He didn't want a casualty he could've prevented on his conscience.

But as things were, he could do nothing but wait and had a section of a bridge to finish before the men resumed work in the morning. He found himself smiling, weaving through the trees without his feet actually touching the earth. He found construction to be surprisingly… fun.

* * *

When Tazuna failed to show up for work in the morning it took Tsunami (and Inari) considerable effort to calm the distressed co-workers and reassure them that the man was fine and would be back in a few days time. While none of them had received any direct injury from Gatou's henchmen, there were plenty of instances were threats were subtly and not so subtly directed towards them and their families, and if something happened to Tazuna…

"He's not hurt, he's gone to get help." Inari quipped, exasperatedly. "You'd think that I wouldn't be standing here, talking to you if he was dead." He added. The men gaped at him but he was nonplussed - they had nothing on Neko-san's great staring eyes.

"He's just worried about Gatou being strangely silent. There were only three of his henchmen found tied to the support beam this morning." He said, helping his mother hand out the food they'd prepared from the mysterious supplies the village kept receiving.

"I wish we knew who was doing all this… it seems so wrong, not to be able to say thank-you." Tsunami whispered, carrying the empty boxed back to their home.

"Yeah, I said the same thing but he said that the less people knew of his existence the less they were viable targets for Gatou." Inari threw out carelessly, only realising what he had said when the last word left his lips.

"And who, may I ask, is this "he"?" His mother asked quietly, giving the nine-year-old "the look" - his mother, while not a stern woman, had the uncanny ability of making Inari feel incredibly guilty just for _thinking _about doing something naughty. With a sigh, Inari cursed his younger friend, Saika, for infecting him with her habit of chattering first and thinking second.

* * *

He would have liked to have thought that he was open-minded – after all, he had spent decades dealing with magic (which was pretty bizarre in itself, if one thought about it) in all its forms. Drink toad bile? Sure. Dance around naked in the night of the full moon, wearing a necklace of testes around your neck? Go for it. Invent a hex that literally glued your opponent's mouth to their arse? Why the hell not. Nevertheless, he found himself staring when Tazuna came back accompanied by the ninja he had hired during his trip to Konoha.

Actually no, he would have to rephrase that last sentence. What he saw was Tazuna leading the way, walking next to a girl of no more than twelve with fluorescent pink hair who looked visibly nervous and wielded her small blade (her mind identified it as a _kunai_) in a manner which strongly suggested that it would end up in the ribs of anyone who was unfortunate enough to startle her. Behind them were two boys, also looking ridiculously young who were carrying a much larger man who seemed to be positively grey with age, although he couldn't see his face and be certain. Maybe people here aged well, who knew.

"Those are the ninja that are going to protect us?" Inari asked, his voice faint in disbelief. It made the large cat next to him feel marginally better about his own incredulity. "We're going to die, aren't we?" He added, still staring.

"You should give them a chance, Inari. After all, appearances can be terribly misleading." The cat quipped directly into the boy's mind. It had taken Inari quite a while to get used to having someone speak to him in a manner that completely bypassed his ears but he had to grudgingly concede that it was the safest method of communication. Thankfully, he had yet to catch on to the fact that the cat could read his mind as well.

"I know you want to see your grandfather, Inari. Go say "hi" to your mother for me and try not to blurt out my identity to the entire village next time." The cat deadpanned, but without any real bite to his words. The boy flushed but nevertheless hurried over to his house where the strange group had just disappeared behind the closed blinds and doors of his home. If his furred companion was to be trusted, the arrival of the ninja meant that things were bound to get incredibly interesting soon.

* * *

**AN: **And it's chapter 4! The ninja have joined into the fray and with magic and chakra in the mix, who knows what's going to happen! (I myself have a general idea ^.^)

I can't help but feel that this chapter was a bit more awkward than the rest, but I find dialogues to be the hardest to write, not to mention making them believable.

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed! It gives me confidence that I'm doing _something _right. However, if there are any logical inconsistencies or things that simply don't make sense, please let me know! That stuff isn't always obvious without taking a step back from the story.

**Nammu: **I know! Theoretically, there isn't anything I can think of that magic shouldn't be able to do - but then, what about the insanely fast ninja with their own incredibly weird brand of abilities? Therefore, my own brain-baby (who has NO combat experience whatsoever) has to be careful and _plan_...

**Ndasuunye: **I am absolutely _shite _at action scenes, I promise you - there will be some, but they will either come later on in the story, or they won't involve magic just yet. Also, creating OC characters are always a risk, so saying that he's believable is very much a compliment. Thank you. ^.^ And Saika doesn't necessarily have to be thought of as an OC - I mean, as broody as Inari is, he's bound to have _some _friends, right?... _right? _

**Henriette: **Thank you! I don't intend to abandon this story (although I'm prone to taking _long_ breaks) so an update should be long off.

**Elspeth**: Thanks! ^.^ I guess that all my history lessons have really wormed themselves into my brain – I just can't imagine him barging in there, setting everything "right" and then leaving again. Magic may be illogical but people are – well, not logical, but you get my meaning. ^.^

**RahXephon**: Wow, that's a really nice thing to say! J I don't know if its at all deserved, but it made me happy so thank you. Although I'll have to correct you on the "self-insert" if by that you mean that I based him on myself. ^.^ Cat's original "prototype" was actually Harry Potter although I changed aspects of his personality so much that I decided to just go ahead and make him an OC. ^.^

**GenoBeast**: It _would _make sense, doesn't it? If the cannon fodder doesn't work, bring in the cannons. XD

**salamanderzrock: **I did write this almost without stopping. ^.^ Before lazyness caught up to me...

**CrescentMelody: **Neko salutes you... and congratulates you on your good taste, but that's just him being an arse. ^.^


	5. Chapter 5

~ Chapter 5 ~ The Decision

* * *

In all of his nine years of life, Inari had yet to meet people who had failed so spectacularly when it came to appearing and behaving like ninja. Inari knew that his grandfather had lied about the mission parameters due to financial issues and as such, had caused the mission to be labelled with a much lower-rank than it deserved but … did they really have to send this lot?

"_It's like Konoha was trying to get rid of them_", he grumbled while helping his mother prepare the food for their visitors. The girl, Sakura, was arguably nice enough but she was clearly smitten with the pale brunette in the group and seemed to alternate between a glaring lack of confidence in her own skills and an explosive temper when it came to the blond boy who was in a league of his own when it come to being loud, abrasive and brash.

The pallid brunette seemed to be somewhat serious in his behaviour and skills but his arrogance was off-putting, he didn't seem to really care much about others and all of his self-composure seemed to go straight out of the window when it came to any opportunities to belittle his fair-haired teammate. And the silver-haired adult who was supposed to be in charge hadn't even managed to arrive to the location awake.

Tazuna had insisted that the unlikely helpers had saved his life more than once and weren't quite as incompetent as they appeared but Inari couldn't help but doubt that Tazuna had been in serious danger in the first place. Neko-san had promised Inari that he would do his utmost to keep the old man unharmed and Inari couldn't deny that he trusted the secretive feline.

Unfortunately, the very same cat had asked him to give the arriving ninja a chance ("They didn't have to come at all." the beast had pointed out) so he (very) reluctantly decided to do so. It was hard though, especially since one of the aforementioned ninja was currently sitting at his table and telling to everyone in the room (unmindful of their willingness or ability to listen) about his aspirations to: a) Lead his ninja village one day and b) Eat his own weight in ramen.

_"They're just noodles. What's so wonderful about noodles?" _Inari thought, chopping up the last of the vegetables. He didn't dare voice that thought aloud though, as he feared that such a blasphemous thought would invoke an explosive reaction from the already exuberant member of Team 7.

Truth be told, Inari couldn't help but think that Neko-san made a much more convincing ninja than the three 12-year-olds and their dozing instructor despite the cat's repeated assurances that he had very little fighting capability. At least he had the stealth/sneaking about part down solid, seemed to be quite smart and gave off an air of inscrutability and quiet determination that made it incredibly difficult to act patronising with him despite his non-human appearance (though Saika had managed to get THAT down to an art form. Even he found it tiring sometimes).

Yet his mother who had been clearly sceptical and worried about his association with the guarded feline showed a level of respect that seemed to go beyond mere gratefulness and always used an honorific when referring to the animal. But then again, if you had lived with someone like Tazuna for the entirety of your life then taking a liking to a great talking cat didn't seem to strain the imagination that much - his mum was surprisingly well-adjusted for an adult, although she had her moments too.

True, she wasn't that sure that she understood the importance of secrecy that the animal had insisted on but had promised to keep the cat's identity undisclosed unless, according to Neko-san, _"it become a matter of personal security. In that instance I can take care of myself and you should do everything in your power to do the same."_

Sighing, Inari carried the bowl with the vegetables to his mother who smiled at him briefly and ushered him to sit down at the table, claiming that there wasn't anything else to be done and that she could handle the rest of the meal on her own. Perching awkwardly on his chair Inari couldn't help but wish that the blond boy wouldn't take a break in his tirade long enough to take notice of him or that one of the other genin would arrive and distract him - It was bound to be incredibly noisy either way.

Inari was a few seconds away from snapping at the boy when the loud blonde grew momentarily glassy-eyed and yawned, his stream of words cut off almost entirely. "Wait… what was I doing just now?" he asked Inari, blinking his large azure eyes in obvious confusion. "You were, err… going to find the other boy, Sasuke I think and… prove your awesomeness?" Inari spoke tentatively, partly confused and partly anxious for the boy to fall for the trap.

It seemed that there were only three topics that were of interest to one Uzumaki Naruto and they were ramen, becoming Hokage and beating his teammate, in that order. Seeming much more alert now then after his mysterious lull in energy the genin almost literally jumped out of his chair and pumped his fist into the air. "Heck yeah, now I remember! You're not so bad after all kid, even though you're all broody and boring sometimes – kind of like a mini-Bastard. Well, see ya!"

Inari continued to sit, blinking in the light. He could have sworn he heard something that sounded suspiciously like laughter coming from his mother but he chose not to try and think into that. _"Did he… did he just insult me?" - _Inari wondered, honestly not sure.

Meanwhile, the blond boy who seemed totally oblivious to Inari's musings bounced out of the door yelling out insults to his grim teammate in an attempt to draw him out. Inari didn't mention that "The Bastard" had gone the completely opposite way in order to find a quiet place to train in. He may not have _liked _the black-haired boy but when you had a teammate like Naruto, Inari couldn't help but sympathise a little.

Then again Saika, for all of her loudness and seeming lack of actual thought was a very good friend and could be depended on to try and cheer him up when the rest of the children had written him off as a lost cause. Similarly, while Naruto wasn't exactly an easy person to put up with he seemed very honest in his goals and emotions, something that seemed so out of place in a world where friend and foe alike kept secrets from each other.

"That seemed to have worked rather well". The drawling male voice was almost immediately followed by the form of the stocky feline pushing open the door of his home with a heavy paw. When asked why he didn't just come in by his usual (dis)appearing fashion the cat had actually blinked, twitching his ears.

_"Where I come from it is considered as rude as kicking down the front door"_, he had said. "_Does that mean that there are more cats like him out there? And they live in houses? Or is the cat-thing a disguise?" _Inari wondered but the cat, realising that he had let something slip about his past and origins had refused to say anything more on the matter and the boy decided not to pry. He wouldn't have succeeded anyway, apart from alienating the feline and causing him to become more distant and reclusive than before.

He just seemed to shy away from any attention directed to him as an individual. Was he hiding from something, running away and trying to not be found? That could explain his adamant insistence on the need for secrecy - if the people who were looking for him heard about a talking cat how difficult would it be to form conclusions about his whereabouts?

But then again, he also seemed quite… shy and never admitted that what he was doing was anything worth mentioning. Like he had no confidence in his own abilities but that seemed to be a total contrast to the determined persona he adopted when he was forming plans or giving instructions. Incidentally, the cat was now sitting in his kitchen looked like he was deep in thought, those large eyes boring holes into the walls. Inari couldn't help but feel that if Neko-san was human, he would be frowning as well. Was there something wrong?

"Neko-san, would you like something to eat?" Tsunami asked, smiling at the cat that seemed to honestly consider the offer at hand. "I thank you for your offer but I must decline. Incidentally, I came here to ask if there was anything else you needed – at this point in time, there is no telling of how long your guests will be staying in the village and I assume that they will be lodging here?"

Inari couldn't help but feel a little irrational jealousy of how easily his mother found it to communicate with Neko. For Inari it had taken weeks for the cat to even talk to him and even then it was mostly one-sided. "_Maybe it's an adult thing." _He sulked, not noticing the cat twitching his ears in amusement at that particular sentiment.

"Speaking of our guests, would you mind taking a look at one of them? He doesn't seem to be injured but it's been more than a day and he isn't waking up." The cat nodded as he stood up and disappeared without trace, almost as if blinking out of existence. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that." - Tsunami smiled at her broody child who was biting into a piece of confectionary with a vengeance. Her little boy could be so like Tazuna sometimes.

* * *

When the old bridge-builder had arrived safely back to the Land of Waves with the four ninja in tow, Neko had wasted no time in quickly and thoroughly perusing the old man's mind. "_It's getting suspiciously easy for me to invade someone's privacy like this." _He had mused. Nevertheless, the intrusion had not only offered him a brief insight into the highly secretive organisations that were the ninja villages but had also, once again, presented him with information that made him rethink what he knew of the world he was in and _again_ it had to do with ninjas and their abilities.

Inari hadn't been far off his mark when he had doubted the level of danger Tazuna had actually been in during his trip. In order to ensure the survival of the old man he had dug up a ward which was seldom used due to the ridiculously complicated process of applying it and the fact that it was borderline dark magic but without the oomph that usually came with magic of this type (in other words, it wasn't horrifically disfiguring to its perpetrators).

His style of warding was generally to combine and over-power simpler wards and charms to achieve his desired effect but this time his usual method would prove either too week or too glaringly conspicuous.

In the end he had switched wands to one which was not very powerful but allowed for better control (it felt alien in his hands, cool and scalpel-like) and carefully applied the ward to the drooling old man. If all went well, nobody (especially the ninja) would have to know of his involvement as the wards reacted towards the level of threat and power behind an attack and generally directed them back to the source.

If the man fell over he would probably bust his lip or break his nose just like anyone else without causing the protection to activate (the same applied when Inari did a flying tackle which had sent them both careening to the floor) but if someone threw a punch or spell at him they would be stopped by the wards – and the more they tried to attack the more powerful the protection became as the wards drained the power behind them from the attackers themselves, somehow making it irrelevant if they had magic or not.

He would have to remove them when there was no immediate threat to Tazuna's life anymore as the last thing he wanted was for the old man to get drunk, start a bar fight and find that nobody was able to lay a finger on him and end up killing someone with the power behind their own assault.

But while Tazuna was blissfully safe without even knowing it, _he _was not. For the first time he had seen glimpses of ninja fighting each other on at least somewhat equal grounds and that made him worried. They were blindingly fast, could throw about elemental attacks and illusions like they were nothing and seemed to have no qualms with fighting to the death or to the point of serious debilitation.

Hadn't the seemingly scatterbrained blond driven a knife through his hand for no other reason than to cement an oath that wasn't even magically binding? Sure, he had dealt with magic that required the spilling of his own blood but he had never been in any actual pain. The closest he had come to serious injuries had been when he had critically burnt himself with an exploding potion when he had been very young and the thought of going through something like that made cold dread lurch in his stomach.

If he had to face a ninja on his own without the element of surprise, stealth and wards to protect him he would almost certainly be a sitting duck - one attack would be all it took to kill him or render him useless in a fight due to his nonexistent pain tolerance. This meant that remaining unseen and planning ahead was still a top priority to him in terms of safety. Incidentally, he needed to take a closer look at the four ninja that Tazuna had managed to recruit despite having lied to them.

He wanted to glean their levels of power and gain an insight into what they were capable of doing with that power as it was imperative that they be able to stand up to whatever Gatou threw at them. This once again meant the use of Legilimency.

As a potential target their instructor was out and, to some level, the dark-haired genin as well. He seemed suspicious and reclusive and that was the worst possible combination if you were trying to break into someone's memories. A ninja's mind was almost certainly protected and a clever individual would notice gaps in memories and the feeling of magic trying to bore into their minds. Perhaps, these people were even better at mind reading than him! So that left him with either the girl or the blond boy.

The boy seemed to be the least… inclined to think things through so would be far less suspicious if he decided to go along with his plan. But on the other hand his personality hinted at a strongly chaotic mind which was a real pain to sort out. Plus his stubborn character could actually be a blessing to Naruto because it was terribly difficult to look for specific information if the target was bombarding you with images of his own choice, akin to an aggressive form of Occlumency.

So that left him with only the girl, Sakura. She seemed smart enough but he seriously doubted that she would notice his mind attack if he executed it carefully - she was generally too busy thinking about a certain teammate to notice the world around her anyway.

* * *

Confounding the whiskered genin ("_I wonder what could cause such scarring…") _and sending him out of the house was easy enough, partly thanks to Inari's quick thinking and obvious desire to see the back of the blond boy. He had only wanted to see if Tsunami had any qualms with letting the strangers stay when she had asked him to inspect the unconscious instructor of Team 7.

He found himself having a mutual understanding with Inari's mother. As long as he wasn't a threat to her son or father she was content to let him do whatever he saw as necessary and even treated him with a fair amount of esteem, something which both puzzled him and caused a sense of… relief.

He would hate to call himself a snob but for as long as he had been alive he had always been treated, for whatever reason, with a certain level of respect by both house elves and wizards due to a variety of motives, his age and wealth being the most prominent. So while he didn't feel particularly deserving of being referred to with their equivalent of "sir", he found its familiarity in meaning to be almost comforting.

At first he hadn't planned to reveal himself to anyone but Inari but the boy had quickly sent those plans to the rubbish bin when he had told him (looking clearly afraid - he wasn't THAT scary, was he?) that his mother knew that he had been associating with the person behind the attacks on Gato and was scared to let their interaction continue.

Obliviating her would have been laughably easy but he didn't feel comfortable with doing something like that because of a perfectly natural reaction, wanting to protect her family. Plus, if he did go ahead and messed with Tsunami's mind he would have found himself with a less than pleased Inari – so he would have had to obliviate him too, and come up with reasons with why the boy that he saw on a fairly regular basis couldn't remember sections of his own life. Preferably, the cause shouldn't involve admitting to having the ability to read and erase minds and the willingness to exercise such means.

In the end Tsunami, to his relief, had agreed to keep his identity and involvement a secret from everyone that didn't already know of him - including her own father, meaning that he didn't have a tangible reason (beyond paranoia) to erase her mind.

She had even offered to help and since it was _her _village and people that were at stake he didn't see any reason why he couldn't accept. Hadn't he wanted this to be a process initiated and carried out by the villagers as much as the situation allowed for it? Plus, talking to a reasonable adult once in a while would come as a welcome relief.

Saika and her gang of friends had yet to give up on their quest to touch his ears and were prone to making a _lot _of noise when they failed, time and time again. Inari, while reasonably clever (when he wasn't sulking) simply didn't understand quite a lot of the practical limitations and boundaries that went into his plans and actions (not that he faulted a nine-year-old for not being paranoid).

So when Tsunami had asked him to check the unconscious man for permanent damage he found himself agreeing. If there were any more attacks by ninja of the calibre he had seen in Tazuna's mind, they had to have the only decent fighter up and running (although he doubted that that was Tsunami's reasoning behind asking him).

Plus, it would give him a chance to take a close up look at a real ninja – he had yet to feel the presence of magic in the house or the surrounding area despite their training but that could've been down to competent warding and stealth, not a lack of magic.

But there were a myriad of ways he could check someone for a magical core and if the happened to be unconscious at the time, all the better. He could admit to himself that at least some of his reasons were quite selfish – he wanted to know if there were others like him here because it would be paramount if he should choose to come out of hiding.

Maybe get a job, not for the money but for the sake of a purpose. Find out or (in light of his change in circumstances) give himself a new name, severing his connection to the old world for good. _Live_, for once. So despite the nonchalant face he put up for the sake of Tsunami and Inari, he was actually rather anxious when he apparated to the empty room housing the still unresponsive shinobi.

* * *

For some reason he was wary of approaching the immobilised man lying on the peculiar piece of furniture that resembled a bed with its legs sawn off. _"Futon, I think they're called." _His mind whispered. Where he had gotten that titbit of information he didn't know - he had been doing so much mind reading lately that he had been having difficulties sorting out his own knowledge and memories from those that he had borrowed _("stolen")_ from various people.

Nevertheless, he eyed the prone form warily. _"Now you're just stalling." _He accused himself, taking a tentative step closer. He had been plagued with the problem of magic for a while now and now that he was so close to answering it he felt… apprehensive. His entire future and plans were hanging in the balance, all dependent on the outcome of this one test. Chastising himself for acting so cowardly he sent out a tendril of magic in order to ascertain that the man was truly unconscious.

The man was well and truly out cold and he decided that putting him into a temporary magical stasis for security reasons would not do any harm. He approached the man until his nose was peering over the edge of the futon. To his surprise, most of the man's face was covered with a face-mask and a metal band similar to the ones worn by his team but from what he could see his appearance didn't seem to match his shock of white hair.

"_So unless he's been bathing in the blood of a hundred virgins or at least investing in some serious anti-wrinkle cream, that's just his natural hair colour. Pink and white. Is that a genetic difference people seem to have here? _He wondered, using a general diagnostic spell to establish that while the man had some cuts and bruises (that he healed without much thought), his lack of mobility and ashen colouring was simply a deep sleep brought about by exhaustion.

The wizard felt his heart fall, though. The man was cold – no, no that wasn't true. He had a pulse, he was breathing and his core body temperature was the customary 36,6°C just like any other human being that was clearly alive but… he was _cold. _There was no familiar presence of magic in the man's aura and subsequent checks which should have revealed his magical core showed… nothing. He tried various spells and none of them wielded any results. _"No, that's not true." _He thought, sighing. _"The results are loud and clear but they're not the results you wanted to find."_

The ninja could obviously manipulate some type of force which allowed them to move as fast as they did and manipulate the elements – and clearly the man in front of him had exhausted his reserves - but it wasn't magic. Not even close. So unless there was a population of mages living in perpetual hiding, he was alone in this world. It was a daunting prospect – he'd been lonely at times, yes but not completely and utterly alone as he found himself now.

How would he do the things he had spent his lifetime learning without constantly looking over his shoulder? How would he explain his abilities when he didn't even possess their form of energy? Could he claim to have a birth defect of sorts? Stranger things had happened, surely…

Nevertheless, the ninja were a real danger to him and they couldn't know of his existence. If the man knew how to feel for their form of energy he would see that he had none and could either try to kill him or bring him in for testing to see how he was doing the things he could. _"Well no, that isn't entirely true. They can know that I exist and still incorporate them into our plans… they just can't meet me in person or sense my presence. Ever. Inari and Tsunami will have to act as my middle-people." _

With a grim turn to his lips the man, now in bipedal form stalked out of his room in search for a pink-haired pre-teen who held information vital for him and his survival. Things had just turned quite a bit uglier for him.

* * *

What he gleaned from the girl's mind (and she had been a true bookworm, a blessing if there ever was one) was too lengthy and complicated to process it in one sitting so he had carefully pulled out every memory and piece of information on everything that had caught his interest and stored it into crystal vials that he summoned from his rings. He would need to find a quiet, secure location and have a session with a Pensieve - His tent, most likely although he was quickly becoming wary of being trapped in such enclosed spaces.

He'd been here for less than a month and he could already catch himself thinking that he didn't understand how he had survived for so long within the Barrier. It just felt like a long, hellish and monotonous nightmare to him now.

But the masses of information he had gathered was well worth the moment of discomfort and the ensuing headache (he had been getting a lot of those lately). For one, _chakra_ (the term felt so alien on his tongue) was a blend of physical and spiritual energy that ninja manipulated in order to perform feats that seemed supernatural to those without such training.

That was all well and nice but the important thing was that _everyone _in this world had this energy, regardless of whether they knew how to use it or not. Even the plants had this chakra, the animals, birds, insects, everything that could be classifies as alive - and he was pretty sure that he didn't possess it.

He'd never heard of anything like it back in his world and while he was as defenceless as a newborn kitten without his magic he wouldn't die if he ever lost it or drained his reserves to nothing. Ninja could though, which explained why the older-looking man was in the condition he was.

_"If I'm right and I don't have any chakra because the people in my world don't need it to survive – then the ninja will take one look at me and think that I'm a zombie. In fact, it might explain why nobody has yet to find me while I've been sneaking around Wave Country… They were looking for a chakra-wielding jutsu-user, not a fairy-tale wizard who shouldn't be breathing by their laws. So unless I kick my brain into overdrive and find a way of faking alien life energy, I'm stuck to slinking around, trying not to get caught. That's… not how I want to spend my life._

Had he been the adolescent he looked like he may have been content to just spend his life in obscurity and wait it out with the belief that "that's just the way things are"– but he had a good hundred and thirty seven YEARS of such a life behind him– of waiting, of obscurity, of sitting around waiting for something to happen and a chance to do what he _wanted _to do, to make something of himself. And what was the worse thing that could happen? If he died tomorrow… could he claim, with all honesty, that he had lived _badly_, though_?_

For god's sake he had lived nearly twice as long as most people and while it was far from the sort of life he had wanted, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Not many people received the life they wanted and the majority of people that did were either perpetually drunk or didn't have very high expectations of themselves.

"_And I'm pretty sure that if I DID die soon, at least Inari would think of me now and again… maybe Saika, too." _He smiled, feeling actually… relieved with his impromptu decision to _not _execute perfect caution. It felt liberating in a way that was akin to what he had felt when he was free of the confines of the Barrier or when he decided to stick around Wave to do some observing, all because he _could_.

And what would be the point of escaping forced life only to cling on to it like a frightened child? To hell with that. He wouldn't draw unnecessary attention to himself because that would just draw equally unnecessary danger to Tazuna and his family, but otherwise…

"_Wait a minute… let's say I used my animagus form to continuously pop-up around the village… who would associate Tazuna and his family with a cat who, according to their laws, isn't even alive? Maybe they'd even believe I was some sort of half-helpful and half-vengeful animal spirit..." _He paced, rubbing a hand over his tired eyes and face. _"And if there's no point in hiding I might as well… no, that's too soon. I may show myself when this is all over and done with but until then, I'll keep my obscurity. They'll have questions that I don't even KNOW the answers to, let alone be willing to answer them. It's too soon." _

Once again thrown for a loop the wizard stopped abruptly, took a deep breath and made his decision. _"Tomorrow, I will formally introduce myself to Tazuna and the ninja. It's not fair to treat them like puppets in my little game – it's literally _their_ lives on the line. At some point I should probably admit to the mind reading as well. And I need to stop this constant paranoia – life is only worth what you're willing to put into it, not how long you can manage to cling to it.__"_

He continued to pace, fingers entangled in his choppy brown hair. His own skin and fu... _hair _ felt oddly foreign after spending so much time in his animagus form_. "Remember what you always told yourself back in the Barrier – those that forsake freedom for security deserve neither freedom nor security. You took a risk to get here and it was literally the best moment in your life, it was what gave you your Patronus for the first time ever– take a chance once more. Or is all your caution just a façade for a coward?"_

Ending that tirade with a little self-manipulation and a mental slap to the face, he nodded to himself with conviction. The wizard who within him housed the constant battle between the mind of the young and the experience of the old retreated to his tent, curling up in his bed although he received very little sleep that night. _"I'm being very abrupt about this, DAMN if I'm not being downright rash about the whole situation… but I also feel blatantly excited to be alive."_

* * *

Meanwhile, one elite ninja from Konohagakure woke up from his slumber only long enough to ascertain that a) he felt like shit, b) his numerous abrasions and bruises were gone seemingly overnight and c) there were traces of a sharp, undeniable scent of a large cat-like predator that couldn't have been standing more than a few inches away from him. The scent was faded so the animal had left a good few hours prior.

Sincerely confused by such an illogical turn of events (hallucination perhaps?) but not feeling any immediate danger to his person and feeling too drowsy to think properly, he promptly nodded off again. Let his genin handle things for once - it builds character, after all.

* * *

**AN: **I'm up to chapter 5! And things are (vey slowly) moving forward! I know that the action could probably come in a little earlier but I'm very much a slow build-up type of person, especially since a large part of the story is my OC's "self discovery". ^.^

Thank you very much for everyone who still reads this and who left a review. Even if it's criticism, it makes me smile so don't hesitate to do so!

**salamanderzrock: **They do have glamours that act sort of like an illusion, but they're not the most reliable ways of hiding things... at least, not from other wizards. ;)

**henriette: **Well, this story _was _going to be about Harry Potter so I suppose it's inevitable that he is going to be _somewhat_ like him. ^.^

I haven't actually decided on a pairing, but whoever it is, they have to feel like a natural counterpart to my character and it has to go with the general flow of the story – I _really _don't want to redesign a character or a plot just to accommodate some romance, no matter how fun it is. ^.^

**Anonymous**: I'll have to disappoint you at least partially – there will be some orange-clad idiot in the future and he'll have an important (if short) role on the story. It won't, however, be based on him.

**It's Good**: I really like that you really like! ^.^ Neko's a difficult character to write because he's very prone to mood swings and doesn't really know how to interact with others on an equal standing. He'll get there though!

**Shadowhunterz**: Thanks! ^.^ My idea latched onto my brain and won't let me write it differently, so you can blame _it_, not me. I'm just the messenger. ;)

**Sougishiki: **I don't intend for him to remain nameless for long, although I doubt that he'll retain his original name in a new world. The possibilities of fun to be had! ^.^

**GenoBeast**: Although I love Naruto as a character, he won't figure _too _much later on in the story, although he has his important role to play. Naruto refuses to let himself go without being heard. ;)

**marc: **For some reason, he just seemed an obvious choice. Mostly, I just find him and his hat to be cute. I'm very shallow in that aspect, I'm afraid. ;)

**It's Good: **Thank you. ^.^ I'm happy that you like it... so far. *shifty eyes*


	6. Chapter 6

~ Chapter 6 ~ The Introduction

* * *

Out of all of his teammates, Uzumaki Naruto was the first one up that day so, after stretching out like a cat and giving a huge yawn, he yanked on his beloved orange jumpsuit and carefully meandered through his room in order to not disturb his dark-haired teammate who was still asleep– only to almost immediately trip over his rucksack in the dark.

Squishing the urge to curse loudly he pricked his ears for any sound or movement from Sasuke but the boy just "hn"-ed in his sleep and rolled over, turning his back to the frozen blond and remaining still and silent. The slow rise and fall of his chest were his only movements and Naruto decided that he was still sound asleep. Determining that it was now safe to move without waking the grouchy boy, he quickly bounced downstairs to the kitchen, full or listless energy despite the early hour.

He doubted that Tsunami-san was awake at this point – the crimson sun was barely peaking over the surface of the trees – but he thought that he could at least get some water or even some leftovers from yesterday's dinner. Naruto had always been an early bird and now faced with the prospect of being alone for a few hours he thought that he might as well have something to eat (his body was feeling the effects of not having its usual doses of ramen) and go find a spot in the woods to practice until Sakura-chan and Sasuke-bastard woke up.

Hopefully their sensei would be up and about as well, because even though he was rather lazy (to say the least) when it came to training them, he might give them _something_ to do. After all, hadn't he proven just how awesome we was when he had totally saved the older man when he was trapped in the water prison? Sure, Sasuke had been there too but... he'd done the brunt of the work!

He was so convinced that he was the only soul awake in the house that when he saw the crouched form of Tsunami-san, mostly hidden behind the large wooden table in the kitchen, he missed his landing and smacked into the wall with a groan. "Naruto-kun, are you alright?" She stood up, walking over to the pouting boy and checking him for any injuries.

Not used to having such concern aimed at him the blond boy felt himself flush and laughed sheepishly. "I'm alright, really… happens all the time! So, what are you doing up so early - If you don't mind me asking." He added hurriedly, worrying that he was coming off as rude. Sakura-chan would kill him if he offended the one person willing to give them shelter! "I'm always up with the sun, Naruto-kun. There is never a shortage of things to be done in a house."

The woman smiled at him and upon confirming that the boy had nothing more serious than a scrape on his forehead, moved back into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and after a moment of deliberation pulled out a container containing some rice and fish. "Would you like some breakfast, Naruto-kun?" She called out to the boy. "Sure!" He exclaimed, beaming at the woman.

However, now that he had a clearer view of the kitchen from his sprawled position in the hallway he had noticed an additional guest that he had failed to see before. "Holy crap!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet in an instant. There, sitting behind the table was a giant _cat _who seemed to be eating something ridiculously tasty looking – some sort of sweet? "What the hell is that thing? And can I have some of the stuff he's having?"

The cat (_"He's the size of a pony!") _looked at him oddly, like he had something alien sprouting out of the side of his head and the boy could faintly hear Tsunami-san's laughter. His attention however was fixed on the animal and it seemed to be studying him just as intently.

"Naruto-kun, I would like you to meet Neko-san. He will be a regular guest here although he comes and goes at his own discretion. He's been a great help so far so I would really appreciate it if you could try to get along… and to answer your question, yes you can have some as well. It's a chocolate cake of sorts." She smiled, moving up to grab a plate for the boy who was still standing rock-still, finger pointed to the cat in a dramatic fashion.

She decided to (at least for the moment) withhold the fact that the cake was actually Neko-san's. He seemed shocked as it was and the idea of food-bearing cats (nearly all the meals that they had had recently were courtesy of their bestial companion) would probably send the boy into further stupor although she doubted that the moment of calm would last long. It simply wouldn't fit his character.

"But… but…" He sputtered absolutely gob smacked at how _calm _the woman was, talking about a massive wild animal sitting in her kitchen and eating cake! Well, maybe not massive… but certainly larger than any house cat, especially that devil of an animal Tora! Plus that looked like some pretty good cake, too. But what had Inari's mother meant when she said "great help"?

"I see that you have questions Naruto-kun, it's understandable but can they wait until everyone else is here as well? They will probably like to know as well and I doubt that Neko-san will want to go through it twice." Not entirely happy with that answer but deciding not to argue he took his plate from the woman with a beaming smile and plopped down at the kitchen table, ignoring the large bright eyes fixed upon him with rather unnerving intensity, like he was being examined under a microscope.

_"How come a cat gets to be called –san when I don't?" _He sulked while shovelling down the gourmet piece of confectionery like it was gruel. _"And I still don't get how he could be of any help. Is he like a guard-cat or something? I admit, I wouldn't want one of those getting their jaws on my…" _His trail of thoughts ended abruptly when he looked up (to scowl at the animal once more) only to find it gone like it had never been there. How in the world had he done that? Without hands for seals, too!

* * *

His stress-induced insomnia was so bad that in the end he just decided to not bother even pretending that he was getting any semblance of rest and chose to have a light breakfast instead. It consisted of some orange juice and a ham sandwich (he still had large stockpiles of food left, kept fresh not by cold temperatures but by a temporary rift in time which kept his lunch meat from going bad) and while eating he decided to visit Inari's home. The boy would most likely be asleep (it was barely the break of dawn) but Tsunami would be up and about and maybe could distract him from the up-coming meeting with a quintet of possibly hostile strangers.

_"I'm going to need some quality sugar." _He sighed, slipping on his cloak. He wore it practically everyday and only took it off when he was within the safety of his tent and needed to rest. The garment looked heavy and stiff but he would've been a very poor wizard if he had let something like that keep him from wearing it – surely enough, the coat was light as a feather on his poorly muscled frame and was far more flexible than its unyielding appearance would suggest. The colour may have been an eyesore but he'd grown fond of that too.

Slipping into animal form and holding the box of cake in his jaws (he decided that he might as well share it – things were bound to be stressful for everyone) he disappeared, the sensation of being squeezed through a tube being comfortable only in its familiarity.

It wasn't unusual for him to take solace in sweets and pastries – when he had been young and upset for whatever reason – boredom, loneliness, frustration… the house elves wouldn't know how to comfort him without seeming inappropriate or going against the etiquette that prevailed within the higher etalons of Wizarding society (not that he gave a damn about them, pardon the language).

So they would offer him solace in the only way they know how – cooking. This meant that anything sugary or sweet was the childhood equivalent of hug for him. _"Especially since they watched my calorie intake like little hawks, as if I'd drop dead from fat clogging my arteries if I ate that extra biscuit after tea." _He snickered, his recollections effectively distracting him from the task at hand.

Nevertheless, he made the trip to the house he'd come to know inside and out and surely enough, he met the dark-haired woman in her kitchen. Although she was clearly surprised to see him Tsunami made no indication that he was unwelcome and took the box from him as he sat in his customary place by the stove as it felt pleasantly warm against his furred flank.

They shared their slices of the more-chocolate-than-anything-else cake in companionable silence, him from the floor (causing his muzzle to become positively covered in the stuff) and she by the table. Tsunami had bent down to pick up his plate for a refill (he was going to protest – he could do it himself within a second) when he felt the wards in the house alert him of one of the ninjas being awake and tumbling down the staircase. When he heard a resounding smack and the thud of a little body crashing to the floor he didn't have to look to know who it was. _"Naruto's up and about I see."_

Although clearly shocked to see him sitting in the kitchen the boy seemed more astounded and offended than aggressive and afraid. _"Are seemingly tame wild animals commonplace here?" _He wondered, performing the barest of brushes against the blonde's mind and confirming that yes, the blond didn't seem to care all that much and was far more interested in the cake than the reasons behind a lynx eating the aforementioned dessert from his own little plate in the kitchen at 4 o'clock in the morning. _"This is getting more bizarre by the second. I'll… go check on the bridge, update the wards and see if any more supplies are needed. After all, I can't afford to be lax at this stage; Gatou's being far too quiet and he's bound to be planning something, especially when his assassin failed to kill Tazuna."_

* * *

Prowling the nearly empty streets of Wave, he weaved among the thick tendrils of mist coming from the sea that enveloped his form in a ghost-like shroud. Aware but not caring for the slack-jawed expressions of the few people who were awake peeking at him from behind their curtains, he felt for the tracking charm he had placed on the unconscious ninja.

_"He's bound to wake up soon, his brain activity is spiking. And I feel like convincing _that _man will be the hardest part of all – who knows what he'll do if he decides that I can't be trusted and that I am interfering with his mission."_ Sighing, the feline cast his eyes over the glistening expanse of the fledgling bridge, wet from the morning dew. Work on the bridge just seemed to put a little ease on his soul, whether because of what it represented or the motions themselves he didn't know.

He felt for his magic deep within his core and sent it out to the bridge, tentatively mapping it out, getting a feel of what had to be done. The fact that he could still do magic in animal form had been a surprise to him until he realised that his wand hadn't actually _gone _anywhere, it had simply incorporated itself into his body. And if he could do transfiguration of that level without a wand in his hand he could most certainly perform most of the more common spells.

This, however took precious concentration and just felt right somehow, like the straining of a muscle to an athlete. He sent out his magic, controlled it and pulled it from one direction to the next, weaving it around the structure and doing numerous little jobs at the same time, feeling rather than seeing sections of the bridge slowly coming together. He never used any of the materials left by the workers but used a mixture of permanent transfiguration and spells to keep the whole thing together. It was rather like... knitting.

Eventually he (reluctantly) stopped the slow creeping of the structure towards the Land of Fire while the last vestiges of the magic he hadn't used dissipated into the air. _"I wonder where it will go… and what will it do?" _After all, energy couldn't be destroyed – it could only change form and continue on. So what would happen to his magic in a world where there seemed to be none? Musing about this and feeling a lot better than he had an hour ago the feline disappeared, deciding to "let himself be seen" by a few more people. "_Let the rumours begin."._

* * *

It was a beautiful morning in Wave, crisp and warm and full of birdsong and the scent of the grass wet with dew. The inhabitants of Wave who weren't already awake (generally mothers and the odd fishermen) were rousing from their sleep. A few unfortunate people were insisting to their disbelieving families that they had seen a "ghost tiger" prowling through the streets and were promptly told to put a lid on it, but to most, it was a pleasant morning indeed.

Tsunami had barely finished this morning's breakfast (Naruto had promptly demolished everything that Tsunami set before him, disappeared for a few hours and was now back at the table, sniffing the air eagerly) when her father and then the rest of team 7 appeared in the doorway looking unkempt to various degrees.

The dark-haired boy looked as pristine as ever in appearance but his clothes were slightly rumpled (he probably hadn't packed much for this mission) and the girl's long hair looked like it was not used to such rough treatment and there were vestiges of dirt left on her crimson dress/top. Her father, of course, looked like he'd crawled through a dirty laundry basket. Backwards.

"Good-morning everybody. How are you fee… ninja-san?" She exclaimed, watching the lanky figure of the silver-haired man slowly descend down the stairs. His progress was slow and he had to constantly lean on the wall for support but at least he was conscious and moving. Neko-san _had _said that he was just sleeping off exhaustion but it was nice to see that he hadn't been seriously hurt. "We have some crutches left over since Tazuna broke his leg last winter; they'd be a bit short for you…" "Hey!" Tazuna cut in, looking peeved. "… but they should be able to do the trick."

"Hey sensei!" Naruto cut in, waving his arms around in a bid to garner attention. It did, so he ended up with every occupant in the room staring at him in a mixture of fascination and irritation. Laughing sheepishly he nevertheless ploughed on. "There was a enormous cat in the kitchen eating cake! Real good cake too, you should have some." He exclaimed, looking to Tsunami for confirmation though she seemed hesitant. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Dobe, stop making stuff up. And please - the next time you decide to go on a night-time rampage, try not to wake the entire house again." Naruto, having forgotten of the cat in wake of the obvious slight to his stealth skills puffed up in indignation. "I didn't wake the entire house, bastard – it's not my fault your prissy self can't sleep through a little noise!" "It's called situational awareness and there was more than just a little noise. I thought I felt the house rock." "No, it's called being a _prissy princess. _Did you break a nail too, you bastard?" "Naruto, DON'T insult Sasuke-kun! And I heard you crash to the floor too!" "Oh come on, Sakura-chan! Stop taking his side!"

Tsunami looked a little lost and cast a hapless look to their instructor but he just gave her a happy little one-eyed smile. "Oh, they do this all time. In fact…." "Hey!" Tazuna exclaimed, staring at the kitchen counter. "Where the hell did all this awesome food come from? Did you rob a convenience store, Tsunami?" The woman in question chose to not answer, instead giving the old man "the look".

Deciding to be wise for once and not challenge fate the old man promptly picked up a plate of the cake and sat down, looking a little like a cowed child. "Just… just kidding, you know. Humour and all that… I'll be quiet now."

Now that her father had been put into his place she turned back to the stove to turn it off and place the full pot of soup on the heat pad next to it. "Incidentally, I would like to hear about the cat that Naruto was talking about – I could smell it's presence in this house before and he's right – it couldn't have been more than a few hours since it left." Tazuna looked at her daughter, startled. "Cat, what cat? Tsunami, you got yourself a pet? How come I haven't seen it, especially since it's supposed to be giant!"

"Because…." Everyone turned to the doorway, startled at the presence of a large feline-type predator (although it didn't look native to any region anyone knew of), standing in the house like it felt perfectly at home in its environment. Its posture was nonchalant but its eyes were bright and muscles tensed, possibly in excitement, or anxiety. "… that would have just caused more problems than it was worth."

All the ninjas in the room (with the exception of Naruto - he was too busy shovelling down food while no one was looking and Sakura couldn't hit him for eating with literally no manners) tensed and grasped at the weapons concealed in various parts of their clothing. Kakashi winced even at that simple motion; he was obviously far from recovered after his fight with Zabuza. Incidentally, he had to tell his team of his suspicions about their enemy not being quite as deceased as they previously thought but now that this had crept up…

"Hey, who are you and what have you done to my daughter?" Tazuna stood, finger pointed at the cat in a dramatic pose. Unfortunately, Inari chose to wander in to the kitchen at that point only to stop and beam at the cat like they were long-time friends. "Hey, Neko-san! Nice morning." He chirped, wondered over to his mother for a plate. Tazuna didn't LIKE the feeling of not knowing what was going on, especially when there were assassins after him and probably after his family too.

"Hey, I want to know what's going on and I want to know RIGHT now." He demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Father…" Tsunami began with a vague threat to her voice but the older of the ninja cut in, looking serious for once. "No, he's right Tsunami-san. This is a dangerous time to trust unknown entities; he could be an agent of Gatou's."

The animal, despite the accusation of being an underling of the most hated man in Wave looked completely impassive but Inari didn't take it so well. "Firstly, he's been here for weeks already so much longer than you have. Secondly, he's been helping you build the bridge so you can't exactly complain, grandpa." Tazuna looked shocked and was about to say something but Inari soldiered on, oblivious to the reactions of the people in the kitchen.

"And thirdly, we know as much about him as we know about you – how do we know that _you're _not Gatou's agents?" Naruto looked mighty pissed at that statement and was about to launch himself over the table with an aggressive verbal counterattack but found himself literally frozen to his seat.

"What the hell did you do to me?" He roared, struggling in vain. The other ninja who hadn't noticed the blonds' predicament until he pointed it out tensed further and turned to the animal who looked rather exasperated, now with their kunai _out._ "I would have gladly introduced myself – _if you'd let me_." He said, sending the still thrashing blond a look. "However, since you're clearly not in a mood to be reasonable I'll let Tsunami-san and Inari-kun do the introductions. I will return shortly."

The animal disappeared without a sound or the customary smoke of chakra. Furthermore, the second the feline left the mysterious jutsu that had glued the blond boy to his seat released, sending Naruto crashing to the floor. "I want to learn how to do that." Sasuke commented, sending a haughty look to the wildly cursing figure of his teammate still on the floor.

* * *

Although their knowledge about the golden spotted cat was very limited, Tsunami and Inari still spent quite a bit of time recounting their experiences and conversations with the animal - from when he'd first appeared to Saika and Inari a few weeks prior up to the present where he had predicted Gatou's use of ninjas and suggested Tazuna get some of his own just as he had left for Konoha.

Inari took particular care to mention the fact that the cat had been helping keep the bridge safe and even pitched in on its construction while Tsunami brought up that the cat had been supplying the villagers with food and using guerrilla-warfare to terrorise Gatou's henchmen with the unexplainable attacks.

"He hasn't told us anything about who he is and where he's from but he's also made the fact that he's keeping secrets abundantly clear." Tsunami said, fingering the napkin in her hands. "He did give us the option to stop the interaction if we didn't want it to continue so he's not forcing us into anything. So no, while we don't have any proof that he's not in Gatou's employment I think that his actions have spoken loud and clear about his loyalties. And frankly, I can't imagine someone like Gato having something that Neko-san would want. He seems to have an abundance of money as it is, for one." She told the silent ninja.

Inari quipped in. "I don't think he's really a cat, though. Cat's don't live in houses and have manners, although he's clearly from someplace far away. I've never even seen some of the food he's brought before." He added, a fork containing a large piece of chocolate inches away from his mouth. Tazuna was staring at his own plate.

"Oh, come off it Tazuna. If he'd wanted to kill you he would have done so ages ago – not by poisoned cake that we've _all _had already." Tsunami snapped, rolling her eyes. "There's something wrong with him though." Kakashi muttered, casting a look out the window to the bustling village, unaware of how much happier the people seemed in contrast to the situation just a few weeks prior.

"It's his chakra system – it couldn't possibly support all the jutsu he's claimed to have done. It's weak and frail and just _wrong_… the distribution is skewed as well, so if I didn't know any better I'd say it belonged to a sick infant rather than an adult, even if he _was _a cat. There is no way that he's a nin animal or a ninja in disguise. Furthermore as far as Konoha is aware there are no missing nin that fit his description and I seriously doubt that Kirigakure would let someone like him become a ninja, not with his underdeveloped chakra system."

"He's _not_ a ninja; he said so himself and apparently he's a very bad fighter. And anyway, can jutsu allow someone to speak directly into your head?" Inari asked, chewing thoughtfully. The older man looked visibly startled at that revelation. "He can? When has he done that, how?" He demanded but the boy just looked at him like _he _was the one being stupid. "He did that just now, in the kitchen. Didn't you see his lips not move throughout the entire conversation?"

The older man sighed. An unknown entity in an already dangerous mission was bad – and if the aforementioned entity had equally unknown jutsu at his disposal it was even _worse_. And he had _sworn _he heard the voice come from the doorway. Had the animal fooled them into thinking that he was speaking normally?

"He said he'll be back and he will. You can ask him about it then." The boy quipped, licking his utensil. "You should give him a chance – like he told us to do with you lot." He carried his plate to the sink and disappeared out of the kitchen, calling out to his mother that he was going out to see Saika and that she shouldn't wait up for him. The four ninja remained at the table, silently looking at each other in obvious worry.

* * *

"Zabuza isn't dead." Kakashi, now on his borrowed crutches told his bemused team when they'd left for a clearing to train. "What?" Naruto wailed. "But we _saw_…" "What we saw was an unknown entity carrying him away when hunter-nin protocol clearly states that the body must be destroyed on sight." Their instructor cut in, causing the blond to groan in annoyance.

"Whoever it was that took him was almost certainly an ally and as such, we can expect him to be back. Fortunately for us though, he took quit the beating in the fight (and the temporary death state wouldn't help that at all) so we have a week or so before he's back in the game. We'll be using that time to train." Naruto cheered at the prospect of something to do while Sasuke remained stoic and Sakura looked vaguely nervous and irritated at the same time.

After giving them a brief demonstration of the tree-walking exercise he left them to it, not at all surprised that Naruto managed only a few feet before coming down like a sack of potatoes. Sasuke surprisingly didn't do much better but he was pleasantly surprised when Sakura seemed to get the hang of it very early on. If she only worked on her reserves and maybe her attitude as well…

"How do you do that?" The voice piped up from right next to the injured ninja. Kakashi let the projectile weapon fly without much thought, only recognising the voice _after _the kunai had left his fingers. Worried that he had killed Tsunami's clearly-suspicious-but-still-a-friend he turned only to find the kunai hanging in midair, not far from the golden cat. He couldn't sense any chakra strings or air manipulation being used and although he didn't dare use his Sharingan eye in fear of depleting his reserves further, he was pretty sure the cat hadn't used chakra at _all_.

"Are all ninja this trigger-happy?" The cat spoke, sounding amused. This time he was ready and found that true enough, there was something wrong with the way it spoke – ninja animals could speak human with little to no trouble but this one was using some sort of… telepathy? Illusion?

"Ingrained habits." He drawled, eyeing the still airborne kunai. "Oh, would you like it back? Go ahead, grab it." The weapon slowly moved towards the gray-haired man until it was well-within his reach. He was hesitant to touch it, not with the cat eyeing him like a hawk but he tentatively reached out, grabbing the weapon. There was nothing on it, no presence of chakra or seals - _nothing _to explain how the cat had been doing the things it did!

"Can you sense chakra?" The cat suddenly asked, eying him. Naruto had chosen that moment to land on the unyielding ground yet again and his growls of frustration rang throughout the clearing but the two figures ignored him, focused on each other across the limited space. "Yes." The man spoke slowly, not quite sure where the conversation was going.

"Can you sense mine? Is there something… different about it?" The cat asked, not masking the worry in its voice. Kakashi couldn't help find this unbelievable – how did someone who had _clearly _received training of some sorts not be aware of the sorry state that their chakra circulation was in? Nevertheless, he chose to answer – he'll go along with the cat and see where the whole thing was going.

"It's underdeveloped and wrong – the coils around your mind and heart are ridiculously thick and continuously shifting while the ones in your body are either thin and underdeveloped or nonexistent. How you're alive and functioning is beyond me." He told the animal who rather than being surprised or frightened (although he hadn't expected such a response, truth be told) seemed almost… awed.

"So what you're saying is… they look like they can't be more than a few weeks old, correct?" He spoke absentmindedly, not even looking at his conversation partner. Kakashi who hadn't even contemplated the thought (it went against all logic after all) was forced to agree that the cat seemed to be right. The cat had the chakra coils akin to those of an unborn child.

"Amazing." The animal whispered, his mind lost in the numerous thoughts and ideas circling his mind at that revelation. His body was spontaneously generating a chakra network! _"If I'd had chakra all along and just didn't know it, they wouldn't have been in the state the ninja claims it to be in. If I had none at all, he wouldn't have sensed anything! Is my magic trying to incorporate me into this world, stop me from dying without the source of energy that is key to life in this dimension? Will I be a "zombie" no longer? _

The ninja watched the animal struggle with the revelation, clearly not having expected this. The elite ninja still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that the cat (he doubted that it was an actual cat but he had no other name to refer to him with) hadn't known about the state his life energy was in. He was going to ask it about it when the animal spoke on its own accord.

"This will probably sound unbelievable to you but… nothing about me seems to make sense anyway, right?" It spoke, not looking at him but focusing on the scene of the three genin - one was sitting triumphantly on top of the tree, one was clearly frustrated with his lack of progress and one was marginally ADD and foaming at the mouth, cursing at the heavens.

"I'm pretty sure that you know that it's not chakra that I'm using to… do the things I do." The cat began, looking slightly uncertain as if carefully mentally editing what he was about to say and what to omit. The ninja hesitated for a moment (it went against _everything _he'd been taught about ninjutsu and he was supposed to be an expert) and then nodded.

"What I can do is manipulate a rather different source of energy that is available only to certain people (_"In a different dimension.")_, sort of like a… bloodline limit." He had come across the term in the pink-haired girl's, Sakura's mind since her crush seemed to have one too. And it wasn't really a lie either as he _had_ received his magic from his parents.

"Because of this, our people didn't really bother with chakra – as far as I was concerned I didn't even know that such a thing existed until I came here. We're a rather isolated bunch, I'm afraid – paranoia, persecution and fear from the crowd can do that to people."

He decided not to mention his suspicions about not having _any_ chakra before he left his dimension as that would open a rather large plethora of questions he didn't really want to answer. "_And in the end, do I really owe them an answer? It's only polite but… I doubt that the information would ever be relevant to them."_

"So the gist of what you're saying is… you have a bloodline limit that gives you two completely different forms of power to do jutsu with." The (seemingly) older man murmured, not looking particularly relieved by that revelation although it _was _marginally better than empty speculation.

"Not really – if I can trust you about my chakra, then I won't be using it anytime soon. I've only been trained in the use of mana, I'm afraid." He had decided to give his magic its ancient Indo-Pacific name (although he didn't know that it was often used in muggle video games) in order to make his story credible. If the people here had mythology concerning wizards and the spell did a literal translation of the word "magic" then the man would think he was a crazy fairy-tale impersonator.

"Why did you leave? And why come here?" The man suddenly asked, studying him closely. _"Can he determine if a cat is lying by its facial expressions?" _He couldn't help but snort, though he had expected such a question to come up he still found it difficult to answer without going into detail about his past. "There was very little for me back home. My only option would've been to sit around and wait to die of old age (_"Definitely not a lie.") _so I decided to take a chance and left. The… jutsu was difficult and I couldn't specify a location so I ended up in the sea rather far from shore but relatively close to Wave. I decided to investigate, met Inari and eventually decided to stay for a while. It's not like I have anywhere else to go." The cat shrugged, not looking particularly concerned. Cats were infamous wanderers, after all. "Maybe after this is over I'll head to a larger city with a notable library – I've got a rather large gap in knowledge and that's a situation I _don't_ like."

The man seemed to muse this over (his genin seemed to be at the point of falling off their feet in exhaustion – wasn't he supposed to be training them?) and the cat decided to leave him to it. "I've got some things to do until sundown and after that I've decided to haunt some of Gato's most fervent supporters. They are very superstitious, the people of Wave." The cat murmured, stretching out briefly. He'd spent so much time leaning over books that his back often gave him trouble.

With a nod that seemed to act as both a sign of recognition and a "good-bye", the cat promptly vanished. There was no sign of chakra being used, no hand seals or gestures of any kind… and when the experienced ninja looked down to the spot the cat had been sitting in he found the lush grass standing erect as if it had never been disturbed in its life. Not even a paw print marred the ground.

"_He's a wildcard that's for sure but I don't think he's lying. Hiding things –yes, but not lying- at least not about being against Gato. I've _never _heard of a bloodline limit that completely bypassed chakra before though, but I can feel that while his chakra network is unstable it isn't being manipulated for the jutsu he uses. What could that mean for us – an unrecognisable, untraceable energy that seems capable of advanced techniques?" _Deciding that he'd been ignoring his students for long enough (one was passed out in the grass, the other leaning against the tree and the third nowhere in sight – probably in search of water) he gave them a beaming one-eyed smile and asked "Who wants to go for a jog?" He was answered by a groan and a rather rude hand gesture, courtesy of a blond idiot.

* * *

**AN: **It's chapter numero 6! Neko meets the ninja and ninja feel unsure about an unfamiliar species of cat, wandering around and eating cake. ;)

Once again, big thank you to everyone who continues to read this story and to those who have left a review. Knowing what works and what doesn't is _very _helpful although I seriously doubt that it's possible to please everyone. So criticise!

**Ndasuunye: **Yeah, I'm aware that this fic is a very slow moving one. *cow eyes* Forgive me!

**salamanderzrock: **XD

**FEARMEfrancis**: Thank you! To anyone unfamiliar with a nin-animal, he would be a definite sight and he's going to put it to good use later on. ;) In terms of the name, **I **know what it is but what I don't know is if he's going to keep it or, in light of his change in circumstances, choose to adopt a new name. I'll see how it goes.

**Kiseki no Tenshi**: Finally someone acknowledges my brilliance. It was only a matter of time. ;) Thank you, I'm glad that someone likes this story.

**Xfighter4**: Unfortunately, I am at the beck and call of inspiration… he looks to disappear on me sometimes, but I do try and keep the story going. ;)

**marc: **Thanks! That's probably because there isn't much dialogue – I suck at dialogue, for some reason. Hmmm…

**FanFictionDevourer**: I aim to please. ^.^ Neko _is _a very conflicted being, poor soul. If only originality wasn't hindered by the bastard that is grammar. Curse you!

**Kitine1: **This _is _somewhat of a slow fic, I'm aware. ^.^ And while I'm undecided on a paring, it would probably makes sense that he should get some at _some _point. XD But it's probably some time off before anything romantic happens. Neko's sort of thick when it comes to anything resembling romance.

**GenoBeast**: I do have a plan for that. ;) For some reason I have never (despite how well written a story is) found it believable that magic and chakra are the same. They have so very little in common…


	7. Chapter 8

~ Chapter 8 ~ The Trap

* * *

"Things have been very quiet recently in Wave… and I don't like it, Hatake-san. I don't like it at all." The golden-grey feline murmured directly into the silver-haired ninja's mind. His oddly coloured eyes were flashing like molten gold in the last vestiges of the setting sun and the lanky figure in the standard ninja uniform beside him, now sans the crutches, nodded in agreement.

The mismatched duo were watching over the unfinished form of Tazuna's bridge just as the tired workers were packing to go home after a tiring day at work, just before darkness set it. None of the villagers had been really injured lately, not for a good few weeks but nobody was willing to take a chance at wandering down the streets past certain hours, what with the spectral animal prowling through the village. It seemed to be benign in nature towards those that didn't harm others out of greed but one couldn't be too careful when it came to the spirits of nature, especially to feline ones. They were notoriously finicky.

"If _I _can fight at this point in time then Zabuza can too. Only this time he knows that we know that he has an accomplice and won't bother holding them back anymore." The experienced ninja murmured quietly, his voice only slightly muffled through the skin-tight mask he wore on the lower half of his face.

Neko sometimes found himself questioning the reasoning behind wearing something that was neither very concealing (he could rather clearly see the contours of the man's features despite the cloth) nor inconspicuous. If anything, it only made him more memorable – was that his intention?

"Tomorrow… it has to be tomorrow." The feline whispered, mentally going through a check-list of preparations he'd done to ensure the safety of the people. Gatou's activities during the last three days had been sparse, to say the least. The bolder individual could just outright claim that there was _nothing _going on.

None of his thugs had been seen wondering in Wave anymore, not even in the taverns and bars (the only places that bemoaned their absence) and while the people rejoiced at the fact, Neko was worried, _very _worried. _"It's like the quiet before the storm… or the retreat of water before a tsunami. They're gearing up for one all-or-nothing attack, and it's bound to be tomorrow. I doubt someone like Momochi Zabuza would wait around a job unfinished, especially after being slighted like that by an enemy ninja. But how will they strike when they know that the bridge and people are protected? Where will they attack and how?" _

Just yesterday he'd handed out a whole myriad of colourful little trinkets to all the kids he knew (with instructions to pass them on to family) via Saika's extensive network of friends and acquaintances. The little girl with the beaming smile and twinkling eyes could be a veritable little general when it came down to organising pranks, gathering allies and giving out orders.

Even boys nearing their adolescence would acquiesce to her demands – they would roll their eyes and say that they might as well humour her as she was in close contact with "The Cat" but that didn't change the fact that they still ended up doing as she told them to. That's not to say that there weren't fundamental flaws in some of her schemes. _"I don't think that performing Chinese-burns on the thugs will reveal their secret lair to us, Saika-chan." _He'd said to the little girl, to her ample pouting.

The little trinkets weren't just colourful knick-knacks he'd bought from a junk shop (he'd given the wide-eyed Tazuna a golden galleon and told him to sell it for some local currency) although the girls seem to like them as they were and the boys held them like they were something that had been deceased for a while.

They were, in actual fact, little portkeys. "If you ever get into trouble – and I do mean _serious _trouble – just say the password and it will take you and anyone who's touching the trinket to a safe location. That means that if something should happen, grab your family and get out of there." The cat told the wide-eyed kids.

"Why, is something happening? What's going on?" One of the boys demanded, the anger doing little to mask the fear in his voice. "Nothing is going on, not for now. But just in case… keep those on your person. As I said, they activate via a password, you can choose what it is."

The children promptly began to shout out names and Neko, whose mind was assaulted by a barrage of _very _random words and phrases, was promptly stunned. "Whoa, whoa… the password should be something that you don't use in everyday conversation, or you'll end up activating them by accident. They're only good for one trip." He warned, resisting the urge to paw at his aching head.

"You choose one then, something that we won't say by accident." Saika demanded, eyeing her trinket in fascination – it was a bright purple frog and she seemed to be very proud of it. Neko promptly thought about choosing a long, complicated name that would be familiar but not used in daily conversation but then changed his mind. "The password is 'magic'." He told the band of giggling kids.

* * *

Although they both agreed that tomorrow was the earliest (and most likely) date of attack, the ninja and cat couldn't agree on a course of action - the ninja insisted on staying near Tazuna and the bridge at all times while the cat suggested the complete opposite.

"It's my mission; it means more to me than just a job Neko." He claimed, doing the last checks on the animal's chakra network. It was more… substantial now, spanning the entire length of his body but still frail and thread like. The coils centred on his mind and heart, however, were still abnormally thick and seemed to… shift, or pulse in time with his heartbeat. "Failure is not an option."

"Of course it isn't, you ox." The cat snapped back, seeming to be in an oddly irritable mood. Kakashi had seen the cat nervous, anxious and even angry at times but this was the first time he'd seen him… snappish. "It would mean the death of Tazuna, destruction of the bridge and the devastation of some of the only people I've ever… liked. So _of course_ I'm not suggesting that we fail! I'm just saying that your method won't help, is all."

The ninja was about to argue with that when the animal cut in. "If you hang around Tazuna all day then it's likely that they will target Tsunami and Inari instead. If, however, they think that Tazuna is not protected during certain periods of time…" The cat was going to say that such an action would be more likely to illicit an attack on the man (who was riddled with protection) alone, giving them a chance to deal a more permanent blow to Gato without endangering innocents.

Instead, he seemed to literally freeze, his body going as taught as a bowstring. "Oh no." The cat whispered so quietly that the ninja could barely pick up the faint transmission. The next message wasn't so quiet however.

"It's Tazuna… he's not injured but his panicking, _badly_. He's… he's at the bridge! What's he doing by the bridge; he was supposed to be home by now!" The cat jumped to his feet, unaware of the frantic twitching and twisting of his tail, the fur on his back standing on end. "What's going on, Neko? What's wrong with Tazuna; where are Tsunami and Inari?" The ninja demanded, wary of touching the agitated animal but _needing _the information.

"They're… they're both home. Inari's asleep and Tsunami is close to doing so… Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura are there as well." The cat closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to use the mind-clearing techniques he'd learned through Occlumency training and feeling for the magic that tied him to Inari's home. "They're safe, but… I can tell that the wards have been triggered during the last hour – an unknown entity approaches… Tazuna comes up to meet them and then they both leave." The cat's eyes snapped open.

"It's a trap!" Both of them exclaimed simultaneously, the ninja's eyes darkening. "I have to protect the client, go warn my team." He told the animal, looking unusually stern but bearing a much closer resemblance to the stern professional man he'd seen in Tazuna's memories.

Neko said nothing but grabbed the man's clothed arm in his powerful jaws and willed them to disappear, a single set of sandal prints the only marked left behind. Simultaneously, he concentrated on the most powerful positive memory he had and willed it do race towards the trio of genin who were supposed to be guarding the wayward bridge builder.

* * *

Tazuna the Awesome Master Bridge-Builder Extraordinaire was tired, sore and hungry – but nevertheless feeling satisfied when he'd finished his work on the bridge that evening. The project was moving along rapidly, his family was safe with a ninja team and there was a freaky but still awesome cat protecting them and the bridge he was building. If he only had some sake on him (the blasted cat kept stealing it) he would have been in proverbial heaven.

If he hadn't witnessed first-hand the atrocities that Gatou was capable of throughout the years, he would have thought that the man had given up. Even if his mind was telling him that it was too early and the worst was possibly yet to come it was only in human nature to hope for the best in dangerous situations.

_"Maybe he can tell that he can't win anymore… surely he's not stupid enough to go against Konoha? And Neko too, whatever and whoever he is."_ The man wondered. He was nearly home at that point; he could see the light emanating from the windows through the darkness and trees.

However, he was quickly brought out of his reverie – the sounds of something small and clumsy breaking through the undergrowth of the forest made the startled man turn around, trying to peer through the darkness. He quickly took off his glasses, tried to wipe them with his sweat-and-dirt covered shirt and hastily put them back on. What he saw made him nearly fall over in shock.

"Inari, what the hell? You nearly gave me a heart attack just now. Where were you, why aren't you home?" He demanded, hoping that the "stern grandfather" act would cover up for his obvious fright just a few seconds prior. Inari however didn't really spare him a glance – he was hunched over and gasping, beads of sweat rolling down his pale skin. Odd.

Normally Inari would've have greeted him or scolded him or something. Inari's glaring absence of speech became slightly easier to explain when the boy finally lifted his eyes. They were wide with fear and his pupils were dilated to the point that they seemed to encompass the entire iris. Tazuna had seen that look before, in horses that were terrified beyond reason. He instantly became _very_ worried for his grandson.

"Inari, what happened, what's going on? Come on, we have to get in the house." He demanded, reaching out to grab the boy who immediately tensed and danced backwards. Tazuna felt his eyebrows rise in obvious surprise. Inari had never been wary of being touched before. "We have to get into the house." He repeated, beckoning the boy closer, becoming increasingly worried and agitated with the boy's lack of action.

He had asked Neko once about the supposed defences he'd placed on them and the cat had promptly launched into a lecture that he could remember very little of. However, the things that stood out to him the most were that a) nobody could outright attack him without causing injury to themselves (followed by very strict instructions to avoid all confrontations if possible) and b) that while there were "wards" throughout the village, he was safest within the confines of his own home. "Your enemy can press his nose against the window panes and never find you." The cat stated. "So try not to loiter around too much. I hate to say it, but you're too important to risk."

So while he was clearly worried about whatever it was that had upset his grandson, he wanted to discuss it within the house, preferably with something incredibly sugary to take Inari's mind off whatever had upset him. "Grandfather, it is the bridge. Me and my friend, we were playing nearby and I we saw some figures going towards it, carrying something, we didn't see what." The boy rambled, throwing his arms about.

"Wait, what? They can't be Gato's people; anyone who isn't granted direct access to the building site is instantly lobbed into the water or tied up. Even the villagers stay away." Tazuna frowned, trying to catch Inari and force him to calm down but the boy just evaded all attempts at physical contact. "We have to go now, Tazuna! Neko told me to come here, he's waiting for you!" The boy exclaimed.

That changed things. Tazuna sighed and cast a longing look to the welcoming sight of his home. "Damn Neko, did it have to be now?" He groaned but nevertheless followed his wayward grandson who seemed to have miraculously regained his strength and was now leading him on the familiar route to the bridge. _"But why did Neko send Inari when he could've come in a blink of an eye? Is he in trouble?"_

* * *

Despite the fact that he'd been here on too many instances to count, in all hours, he couldn't help but feel that the sight of his beloved bridge was… eerie. The moon was in its last quarter and as such barely cast enough light to really see anything beyond the silhouette of the bridge and the softly glimmering sea underneath it. But he could not see any movement on or near the bridge.

"Inari, what is going on, where are we going? You said that the bridge was in danger." Tazuna whispered harshly, not at all amused with the situation. Inari looked at him, his eyes painfully familiar in shape but… they seemed distant, blank. Not hostile, slightly scared if anything but not Inari's usual condescending yet warm eyes. _"Is the kid really that afraid?" _Tazuna worried, holding out his hand to place it on the boy's shoulder only for him to flinch back, _again._

* * *

Kakashi Hatake decided that he did _not _like Neko-san's preferred means of transport – not only did his head and eye ache after being assaulted by a myriad of colours that were flashing by too fast to be properly recognised by the human conscious but the sensation itself, akin to being squished down a narrow rubber tube, was downright nauseating.

If he hadn't been in "mission mode" and therefore almost entirely concentrated on protecting his protégé and preparing for possible combat, he would have dropped down on his knees and thrown up. As it was, he did sink down on his knees but only took deep breaths through his face mask, trying to will the dizziness away.

_"This definitely isn't the shunshin.." _He thought, trying to will the nausea away. Although slower and much more limited in range, the Konoha ninja definitely preferred the older means of getting around than to this… mana technique, even if he could see the usefulness in it.

Neko seemed unaffected though, clearly used to the sensation. He bolted to the bridge that was a short sprint away. He didn't want to appear blindly in an unknown situation but it was so hard to be logical when you just _knew _that someone you cared for was in danger.

His eyes that were extremely sensitive to even minuscule amount of light were searching the bridge for the tall and bedraggled form of Tazuna and found it in the woods near the beginning of the bridge – and he wasn't alone. Standing beside his grandfather, looking as if nothing was wrong in the world was _Inari_. _"It can't be… Inari's at home, with Tsunami. Have my wards failed? How could they, though... the enemy should have no knowledge of magic!" _

Neko thought frantically, looking at the kneeling form of Hatake Kakashi who'd only just caught up with him. He looked shaken after the apparition and consequent run but his countenance was alert and there was a weapon in his gloved hand, ready. When Neko's eyes darted back to Tazuna and Inari, he noticed something incredibly odd. For a fraction of a second, Inari's image… flickered.

Taken aback by the sight, Neko continued to stare and sure enough, a few seconds later Inari flickered again, like he was a disturbed reflection in a pond. _"Is that… is that a chakra illusion?" _Neko thought, casting a glance back at his ninja companion. His eyes were on Inari too and when their eyes met, his one eye closed slowly, before opening again and staring intently. He _knew_.

"Tazuna, Inari! What are you two doing here?" The cat called out loudly, much to the silver-haired ninja's shock. The pale bridge builder looked incredibly relieved to see Neko and gestured for him to come closer. "Come on Neko, Inari said that he found something important, he was about to show me!"

Inari was silent and still, but his attention was clearly on the large cat. Hatake was nowhere to be seen. _"Please let it be that you have a plan!" _The golden haired cat pleaded mentally before approaching Tazuna and the enemy masquerading as someone he saw as a little brother. He couldn't allow them to sense the presence of the jounin.

* * *

The entire time that they walked in the woods 'Inari's' attention shifted from Tazuna and Neko, never leaving the other out of sight for more than a few seconds. _"This is not Inari. He keeps… flickering. Is that the cloning technique I saw in Sakura's mind? But why doesn't it remain constant, why does it keep flick... unless it's because my chakra isn't stable. Every time that it does that "shifting" thing Kakashi talked about the image distorts. And I'll swallow my own wand if that chakra puppet-thing isn't leading us into an ambush. The only thing I can hope is that Hatake isn't late for once, otherwise I'll become a ghost and haunt his sorry person until…" _

The warded presence of the elite Leaf ninja was a good three-hundred metres away, probably tracking them at a distance in order to not alert the enemy and wait for them to make the first move (as disconcerting as that was) But while he could sense a person he had placed wards on over _continents_ (if he put in the effort) he couldn't check for the presence of anyone else because it was an unpleasant experience and blatantly obvious, even to someone with no magic. It could be enough to trigger an attack.

The only thing he could do at this point was walk alongside Tazuna and silently weave a rudimentary but powerful defensive barrier, just in case. _"Now how to tell Tazuna that we're being lead into an ambush without making him panic and do something stupid..."_

The cat grumbled to himself, agilely weaving through the thick dewy grass. 'Inari' was making sure to stick to the little dirt path a little way off. _"So we wouldn't notice that he isn't disturbing the grass, as he's not really physically here and all." _

Tazuna was trudging along far less gracefully, swearing at the state that his pants were in. "What the hell were you and the brats doing so far out anyway?" He complained and Neko, worried that he might catch on to the fact that there was something seriously wrong with his grandson immediately piped up, hoping to distract him without having to resort to confounding him.

"Tazuna, how far along are you on getting the bridge finished?" He asked, keeping a close eye on the Inari-lookalike who was clearly listening in. "Oh, about a week or so, I should say. Quicker, if you got up from your hairy arse and helped more, you know." He grumbled, taking a swig of lemonade from his flask and winced at the assault of processed sugar on his tongue. "You're cruel." He mumbled while Neko just did a feline equivalent of a smirk.

"_If I could take down the clone I could grab Tazuna and make a run for it… and leave Hatake with two potentially angry nin and no Team 7 to help him… damn it. The only thing I can really think of is to provoke an attack and incapacitate the man before he can do serious damage… and stop them from killing Tazuna in the meantime. There is one way that I can think of… but I can't do it in Animagus form. Shit!" _He cursed to himself, a sign that he was less than pleased – he generally didn't care much for swearing.

"_I should have expected them to try and lure him away… I've underestimated the opponent, and it could cost us. I just hope that Team 7 will be up to their game and finish this for us before it gets... unpleasant." _The man thought, silently and quickly melting from a feline quadruped into a bipedal, average height adolescent with a full-length coat and hood that covered most of his features, apart from the large, unblinking eyes - they peered through the darkness of the hood despite the complete darkness encasing the rest of his features.

The only thing that remained from his previous form were the blatantly feline irises that seemed to glow a golden green in the wane moonlight. Using the linden wand that had once again appeared in his fingers, he managed to silently summon a handful of flat stones, each inscribed with a series of runes and hidden out of sight by his long and loose sleeves.

He took a deep breath to prepare himself (he would have to act quickly for this to work) and then sent a message to the puffy-haired ninja that was still trailing them at a safe distance. _"I'll protect Tazuna and kill the clone. The two nin should be nearby. Wait for Team 7, they're not exactly inconspicuous and may attract unwanted attention to themselves." _After that message, he bolted.

First, a silent _Reducto _made quick work of the clone that dissipated into a puff of chakra smoke. Tazuna who had begun to cry out at the sight of an unknown man in a creepy cloak-thing attacking his grandson now watched with a slack-jawed expression at the location the boy had seemed to stand a minute ago. "Wha…?" He mumbled, reaching out for his glasses.

"Clone." The man beside him spoke curtly, quickly scattering the handful of stones around them and not a moment too soon. As soon as the stones had formed a (more or less) closed circle around them and activated with a soft glow, something that was aiming straight for Tazuna crashed into the barrier, causing it to ripple and glow blue for a moment, before the magic receded. "Who are you!" Tazuna exclaimed, trying to tackle the unknown man, only to promptly fly through him and land on the floor.

"Tazuna, with all due respect – shut up." The man spoke in a frighteningly familiar voice, polite but with a slightly prim tone to it. "**Neko!" **Tazuna stared, eagerly searching the man's features but finding nothing behind that blasted hood apart from the memorable eyes. "Don't worry, Inari's at home – that was just an enemy clone sent to lure you out into the darkness for an ambush." The man said flippantly, a dainty long-fingered hand appearing from the long sleeves of the cloak wielding a long yellowish stick.

"That makes me feel so much better." The bearded man spoke weakly, promptly sitting down in the limited space of the circle. The faux-feline seemed to be too focused on their surroundings to really pay much attention to the man though, and when a dark silhouette emerged from the trees and approached the odd pair his eyes did not leave them for a second. "Neko-san, I presume." The voice was young, not much older than his own physical manifestation but nonetheless stern.

"Zabuza-san's mysterious helper, I presume." Neko replied. Tazuna couldn't help but think that he was being surprisingly nonchalant for someone who was talking with an assassin after Tazuna's neck. "To what do we owe this pleasure?" His mysterious not-cat friend enquired, the picture-perfect image of a polite homeowner greeting a guest onto his lands.

"I think you now what we are after, Neko-san. Unnecessary bloodshed will be avoided if you hand over Tazuna-san right now. If you don't, we'll have no choice but to go after his family. It is your choice. Don't force my hand." The young boy stated, not moving from his position. Neko could tell, even in the limited light of the moon that the boy was wearing some sort of mask that completely obscured his features. It looked… eerie.

"Please, let's stop with this unnecessary bluff. If you've done your research – and you seemed to have done so – you would know that you can't touch the man's family or the bridge. Your only hope was to lure Tazuna outside of the protection placed on the village and try to find a method that would actually harm the old man. _("I'm not old… In ma' prime.")_. And unfortunately, I cannot allow that to happen." The ex-cat spoke politely, not once raising his voice to the enemy nin who didn't look too concerned either. _"Why is he not doing anything… is he trying to distra…" _

The thought hadn't even begun to cross his mind when the adolescent figure of the boy-wizard swirled around, simultaneously casting a spell that would reveal all human presence in the area. He saw Tazuna shudder from his sitting position near him from the corner of his eye him but his mind was too busy processing the information he was receiving – apart from the presence of Tazuna, the young ninja and the waiting form of Hatake Kakashi hidden amongst the trees, there was somebody else here – someone right behind him.

He'd barely made the full circle when something incredibly large and heavy crashed against the barrier, sending blue ripples of magic coursing through their protective barrier. Tazuna whimpered. _"Don't worry Tazuna… nothing can get through the barrier. Just make sure that no part of your body is ever outside of it, alright? It'll let you through but it won't let anything attack us." _He whispered into the old man's mind. He chose to not mention that air was included in this. _"We have enough for a good twenty minutes though… should be enough." _He thought, choosing to keep that particular thought to himself as well.

"Zabuza-san… I was wondering when you'd show up." He spoke again. The man was nowhere to be seen but the vestiges of the revealing spell he'd cast told him that the man was circling him, keeping a distance of several metres between them. "So… you're the famous Neko. An honour, I'm sure." The man's rough voice permeated through the tense silence, a hint of mocking mirth evident in his tone. "Why don't you be a man and step out of your little security zone and fight me, hmmm?"

"Oh no, thank you. Not everybody can be a muscle-head, Momochi-san." He countered. With his magic aiding him he finally noticed the man that was out to kill him. He looked identical to the image he'd seen in Tazuna's mind. Tall, wielding a large cleaver-like sword and obscenely muscular (a small irrational part of his mind couldn't help but be jealous – if he forewent wearing a shirt, he'd probably get laughed at.) However next assault was quick in coming and was effective at snapping him out of his thoughts – a suspiciously detailed and large water-dragon went smashing against the barrier but found itself doing little to no damage – the chakra-infused water just slid over the top of the barrier like it was encased in glass.

Able to somewhat pinpoint the ninja's location location he let a _Reducto _fly at the cocky man, not particularly surprised but nevertheless disappointed when he dodged the spell with ridiculous ease. He did let out a low whistle when he'd turned around and watched a not-small section of the forest become levelled in an instant, the sharp sound of breaking and splintering wood filling the area.

"Not bad, not bad at all little cat." He smirked. "But I don't have all night to play around with. So we'll ask you again – hand over the old man and I won't have to sever your pretty little head from your neck." The man smirked. Neko couldn't help but twitch his fingers at that. _"Pretty? Since when am I pretty? Patronising scad." _"Regardless of what you might have heard from little girls, Zabuza-san, I am not a female." He ground out. "And I'm afraid I cannot accept your offer." (Tazuna was clinging to his legs at that point.)

The tall man just barked out a mocking laugh. "Oh well… you only brought this upon yourself, Neko-chan." Before Neko could open his mouth to form a comment or a question, his mind quickly became consumed with blinding, overpowering and all-consuming terror. _"Oh god... what is happening to me... make it stop... make it STOP!"_

* * *

**A/N: **Hello, welcome to the Chapter that is Eight! Sorry for the uncharacteristic delay - this section of the story took me a while to come up with - not only am I downright shite with action scenes, I had to come up with a completely different scenario that would match Neko's abilities and the events so far.

I still don't think it's the best it could be, so don't be hesitant to make suggestions or criticisms - we are not proud.

However, it's important to remember that Neko is _not _a fighter - I doubt he's ever thrown a punch in his life and thus, has never been exposed to such outright violence.

Sincerely yours,

Monkey in a Jump Suit

**ArrancarMaiden: **It was a whim of the moment. ^.^ I try not to make this story _too _self-important so there's fun to be had!

**Fk306animelover: **Thank you! Although I've got to admit that at the start, it _was _going to be a Harry Potter story but because I needed to tweak his character so much... I decided to go ahead and call him an OC rather than making a seriously OOC Harry. Thanks for reviewing!

**salamanderzrock: **For some reason I've yet to see one story where a wizard's ability to spot ghosts is exploited in the Naruto verse, it's always in Hogwarts... odd, huh? ; )

**Someone who already reviewed**: Well spotted! ;) Although I can definitely see where you're coming from, I decided to postpone the acquisition of the Sharingan until a _bit _later. 'Tis more dramatic that way although you're right – it won't be Haku causing the distress. *whistle*

**Blue-Painters Field**: I know that I'm a bit… _heavy _with my language and structure. I blame Tolkien and his lovely, long-winded books for that! I am trying to make the text more reader friendly, especially since a computer screen makes the text seems _huge_. Thanks for reading and reviewing though!

**henriette: **Neko likes to use his mighty big brain! Also, his pride reared its ugly head a bit – he feels like magic's the only thing he's really good at – so he decided to show off. XD

**Tashio**: Wow, thanks! It's the lack of angst, isn't it? Neko's "too old for that crap". ^.^

**ArrancarMaiden**: He just wanted to have a spot of fun when he had the chance. He probably remembers himself at that age… the old fart. XD

**DBZLover**: It's impossible to mention Naruto in any way or form without having a bit of a laugh. He's just lovable that way. ^.^ And thanks! I am to please. ;)

**Kiseki no Tenshi**: In a break from tradition, I find myself rather pleased as well. Thanks!

**Frostius**: The secret's in the suspense. O.o (XD)

**Deviate's Fish: **Sorry, I've never have been particularly concise in my writing and I envy those that are. *sad* But I definitely try to improve and get things moving a bit quicker.

**GoldenRat**: Although I love fast-paced stories, sometimes I find the whole "we met-we liked-come live with us" scenario a bit unlikely. So Neko's going to have to put some effort into it, especially with sneaky ninja breathing down his neck. ^.^

**GenoBeast: **Neko's not very good with the people skills. He probably thinks he's complimenting Naruto in a roundabout way. XD But it's not really supposed to bash Naruto, it's just that for someone who doesn't know him very well it would be difficult to take him seriously.


	8. Chapter 9

~ Chapter 9 ~ The Confrontation

* * *

Neko could feel nothing but blind, intense terror – if he hadn't sunk to his knees from the intense fear impeding his motor functions, he would have bolted in a random direction, heedless of the fact that doing so would leave him in the mercy of the two hostile ninja and left Tazuna wide open to attack.

Next to him, the man had been reduced into a gibbering, stuttering mess while his powerful fingers latched onto Neko's arm with enough force to break bone – only the coat protected the old wizard from actual bodily injuries. Tazuna had already been exposed to KI before, from the exact same ninja but his experience wasn't making the fear any easier to bear.

The sensation couldn't have lasted for more than a few seconds although to Neko it felt like it had been hours that he had spent on his knees, dizzy and feverish from adrenaline coursing through his body. Fortunately however, several things happened that saved him from making any fatal mistakes while in the influence of Momochi's killing intent - it was cut short rather rapidly.

Firstly, his natural Occlumency shields kicked in and offered some solace from the overwhelming emotion by somewhat separating the mind from his body. Legilimency had never been a strong suit of his – he simply wasn't an intrusive character and only relied on the strength of his magic and experience to carry him through (which is why most wizards were limited to only one of the mind disciplines at best) but his Occlumency was at the level where he could quite effectively retreat into his mind and leave the outside world to its own devices – a technique he had used to weather some of the more depressing years back in "the house".

Secondly, Team 7 (now in full) appeared from the darkness and after a moment of hesitation (after all, their client was within a barrier of sorts with a complete stranger) launched an attack against the tall rogue ninja, only to be intercepted by his noticeably shorter ally. A short and one-sided battle ensued but which nonetheless served as a distraction against Neko's bandaged assailant.

Thirdly, Neko's own crippled chakra network couldn't support the illusion and shifted violently, reacting to the distress of the body and dispelling the illusion but not quite quickly enough, as…

Fourthly, Neko's magic exploded out of his system like a seismic wave after an earthquake and literally levelled the landscape to the ground within a two hundred yard radius.

* * *

Magic is not chakra and therefore it is safe to conclude that chakra is not magic either. There are a number of key differences that set the two forces apart like night from day although no one so far had had the opportunity to really compare the two.

For one, there is nothing fantastical or "supernatural" about chakra in the way we usually think about things – yes, it allows its wielders to do things beyond the abilities of "normal" people but in the world of the hidden countries, chakra was just as widely accepted and understood as electricity or earthquakes, perhaps even more so.

It was just that – energy; lethal energy, in the hands of the right wielder but energy nonetheless. It followed its own set of strict rules and if they were understood, it could be manipulated into doing anything its owner wanted it to do – as such, very little was ever _discovered _with chakra as there was very little uncertainty about it in the first place – only obstacles and limitations in the people themselves.

That is why the magic barrier that was created to stop anything _physical _from getting through it, including air molecules, allowed the ninja's chakra illusion through it with little resistance – just like it had done with the vibrations in the air that allowed for conversations to be held. It was just energy to the barrier.

Magic however… was far more mysterious, even to those that spent a lifetime studying it. Even the most distinguished wizards could not explain where magic came from and how exactly it did the things that wizards used it for – they just knew that combining certain ingredients, performing certain gestures and combining them with _emotion_ or desire wielded a certain result - but with limitations, the so called "rules" or exceptions that were commonly found in subjects such as potions and transfiguration but not necessarily completely understood.

For example – most people that spent any time actually studying at school knew that food couldn't be conjured out of thin or transfigured. A rather odd phenomenon when one thought about the fact that a competent wizard could affect their very own molecular structure in order to turn into a completely different organism and could even temporarily create life from inanimate objects - but not turn things into food. Why?

Some have said that food needed to be converted into chemical energy for the body to have any use for it, but magic didn't allow for it – it simply reverted back into its original form after a certain period of time. Wizards couldn't understand such a limitation so they just accepted it at that. (Incidentally, most new breakthroughs in magic were accidental and improvements were slow in the making, part of the reason why the Wizarding world seemed so incredibly old fashioned in comparison to the muggle world.)

Did magic come from within, a product of the person themselves like chakra? Was it something in the world around them that only obeyed those with certain qualities? Nobody knew, although the theories were numerous and contradictory in nature.

Another difference was that using chakra was a simple matter of control – it would do what it was told to do, regardless of the consequences, even at the cost of harming the body itself. But magic was a lot more… primal than that. It did not care for what you told it to do – it did what you _wanted_ it to do. It would be a mistake to call it necessarily _sentient_, but it seemed to have … a sort of _intelligence _and autonomy that chakra lacked. It sensed things that the mind could not perceive.

That is why when Neko felt the chakra-induced terror coursing through his body and mind, latching on to the chakra network that his own magic had subconsciously created in order to assimilate the body into the new world which was saturated with the energy, his magic didn't hesitate to do what it was essentially told to do – _make it stop_. Violently.

* * *

Only Tazuna was spared and the man could only gape at the sight of the ninja being hurled through the air like feathers in a breeze, the magic not discriminating friend from foe. He could only count his lucky stars that the _thing _had bypassed him as he would have surely broken his neck. He could only wince in sympathy as the short blond genin was knocked against a tree with enough force to shatter the bark, before disappearing into the dark again.

It was over in a blink of an eye and the man could do nothing but sit still, confused and still feeling dizzy after the horrible killing intent that he had been subjected to for the second time in a row. When he heard a weak voice right next to him he almost had a coronary heart attack on the spot. "Are you alright, Tazuna?" The man next to him spoke, his voice seeming to be absurdly young. "Crap, Neko… what the hell was that?" He wheezed, clutching his chest.

The smaller figure did not answer, instead rising shakily to its feet and leaving the barrier which left a soft glow in its wake. "The wards no longer work, now that I've left the rune circle." The shorter man said, staying only long enough to tap the odd stick-thing at the old bridge-builder's head who shivered at the sensation of something cold and slick crawling over his skin.

"This should be enough to hide you in the dark, but try to avoid the roads." With that, he disappeared in the soundless manner that managed to at least somewhat convince that the obscure young man really was Neko. He didn't know anyone else who could emulate the cat's method of transport. _"I was such an idiot to fall for that trap…" _Tazuna wailed mentally.

Feeling every one of his fifty-odd years in his weary bones, his health ravaged by years of heavy work and alcohol, Tazuna struggled to his feet and set off into the darkness, eager to return to the confines of his home and to check up on his _real _family.

* * *

Momochi Zabuza was not doing well – although he was conscious and that already put him a step above the rest of the wimps who were out cold. A small part of him however couldn't help but think that they were lucky in their oblivion – they could ignore their injuries while they were glaringly obvious to him.

He was almost literally pinned to the cluttered forest floor with wooden shrapnel that pierced his skin like a grotesque immitation of a pin cushion. And he couldn't even _try _to wiggle free because his numerous broken ribs made every movement ache something awful. The pain was nauseating in its intensity and every movement (even breathing) made his vision swim in hazy blackness but not once did it relieve him of his consciousness.

He tried moving his head and with great difficulty he did so, finally catching sight of his fifteen-year-old tool slash apprentice, Haku. He too was immobile, sprawled over a mass of wood and stone and while he was literally covered in scratches and bruises, he didn't seem to have any permanent injuries, unlike the pink-haired little girl (he refused to call her a kunoichi) who seemed to have broken her leg while crimson droplets of blood spilled from her parted mouth. The male members of Team 7 were nowhere in sight, probably (_"hopefully") _buried under the rubble.

With a gurgled cough, his pierced lungs causing his own blood to spurt out of his mouth and pool in his chest, the ninja gave a mirthless laugh. If they - Team 7 and their odd ally - ever managed to get back up and gear up for another fight, he would be done for. He couldn't feel his legs anymore, for one.

* * *

Neko stretched out his still wildly coursing magic to Team 7, feeling immense relief over the fact that while none of them were conscious, the only serious injuries that they had sustained were a broken leg for Sakura, a sprained ankle from Sasuke (he'd probably tried to land funny) and a nasty but non-debilitating gash on Kakashi's head - nothing that magic couldn't fix in a second. While he felt guilty about leaving them unconscious and injured (at least for the time being) he needed to find the other two ninja- he couldn't protect Tazuna on his own as he had just ever so subtly discovered.

A powerful human revealing spell showed him that the two attacking ninja were more than a hundred and fifty metres or so away and unmoving. Frowning, Neko broke into a light jog. He couldn't help but dread what he would see when he got there but the actual sight nearly made him drop down on his knees and retch.

The younger nin was simply unconscious and seemed to have fared better than most of Team 7 but the mastermind behind the whole attack, Momochi Zabuza… Neko felt boiling hot horror and _shame _swirling in the pit of his stomach. He'd done that… _he'd done that! _He'd freaked out like a child confronted with something slimy and he'd caused horrific injuries to someone.

"_He tried to kill me, he tried to kill Tazuna…" _His mind tried to console him (rather unsuccessfully) while he numbly walked over to the immobile man who seemed to be looking at his accomplice (friend?) with great difficulty. A human being shouldn't look like so much like a broken marionette.

"_It makes no difference. I'm the cause of his injuries."_ Neko thought, his frantic mind buzzing with thoughts. _"Me. No one else. If he dies, it's my fault. And I don't know about people here, but _my _soul _will _be affected by this man's death - accidental or not. And none of this would have happened if I'd listened to Hatake... if I'd done a better job, if I hadn't meddled..." _

The man had several broken bones, his arms, legs and chest were pierced like a monstrous rendition of a hedgehog and somehow the position of the man's back gave him the horrifying impression that it was broken. And if the medicine here was anything like the muggle medicine back home…

"_I have to help him – not for him, but for myself." _Still trembling but with a measure of determination, he crept closer to the man. When the heavily injured ninja turned his head sharply, letting out a hiss of pain while doing so Neko quickly froze him, preventing him from moving and jarring his injuries further.

_"How am I going to do this… I need my books and potions but if Team 7 found out they'd kill him and it would be my fault that Momochi would get put down like an animal. I seriously doubt that they'd understand my reasons anyway. Do they believe in souls? Or is this a "kill or be killed" type of world that I've landed in? Oh Merlin..." _

The only things he could do at this moment was place the man in a powerful magical stasis, a commonly used practice when transporting heavily injured patients to far away hospitals. It was also used to keep food fresh but that was beside the point here. Transfiguring him into a kitchen knife (it seemed to fit, somehow) he carefully wrapped it into a rag and placed it into a bottomless satchel he'd summoned from his ring.

He did the same to the unconscious teenager who ended up being an ornamental comb. He didn't waste time in slinging it over his shoulders and hurrying over to the quartet of unconscious ninja that were scattered over the nearby rubble. He couldn't let anyone that had been attracted by the explosion find them in such a vulnerable state.

* * *

He found Sakura first, lying nearby. Her leg had been broken in at least two places, one clean break below her knee and a nasty splintered one in her shin. He winced at that, hoping that he could mend it anyway, without having to resort to Skelle-Gro. When he approached her she was still out cold, so healing her cuts and bruises (she'd bitten her lip rather strongly) and carefully mending the broken bones was easy. "_Thank god fixing furniture and bones aren't that different." _He thought, picking up the frail looking girl and marching off in the dark towards Uzumaki Naruto who was the closest out of the male ninja.

He was no healer, not by any stretch of the imagination but simple healing spells were part of any school's final year curriculum and as such, an adult was expected to know how to deal with broken bones and flesh wounds. It was the more complex cases involving mental problems, obscure diseases and magical mishaps that would garner the attention of a professional healer. If you turned up in a hospital with nothing more than a broken leg though, you would've been subject to more than a few raised eyebrows, and maybe a giggle or two.

Luckily, his extensive packing meant that he had no shortage of healing potions and books available to him, and while Momochi's injuries were horrific and complicated for sure, Neko _had _accounted for extensive physical injuries in his preparations, so he should fare relatively well. Nevertheless, a small portion of Neko's psyche was itching for the wizard to reach out towards one of his larger pockets and retrieve the small silver instrument housed within. It would take only a single turn of the clock to make it all better...

But the larger, more mature part of his mind ignored the childish urge. He had taken the time-turned to be used in absolute emergencies _only_, as messing about in time rarely ever ended well, for anyone...and while he felt like an absolute arse thinking so, Zabuza's death wouldn't really _count _as a life or death situation... would it?

The girl in his hands twitched but settled almost immediately, snuggling into his chest. _"Great. Now the only thing I need is for Naruto to see me like this and decide that I'm some random pervert moving in on his underage crush." _He mentally rolled his eyes, resorting to simple cynicism in order to take his mind off more pressing concerns, such as the dying man with the possibly punctured lung and broken backbone in his bag.

* * *

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura had been sitting in the kitchen alone, waiting for their sensei to turn up. Since it was turning out to be a lengthy wait, they'd each resorted to doing what they liked doing best – Sasuke was brooding, Sakura was trying to initiate a conversation (and being ignored) and Naruto was trying to catch Sakura's attention and insult Sasuke at the same time. Needless to say, it worked spectacularly.

"Naruto you idiot, shut up and apologise to Sasuke-kun!" She scolded, waving her fist threateningly. Before Naruto could wail his protest, a silvery-grey double of Neko-san leaped through the window while seeming to cast his very own light in the dim kitchen. "Kakashi-san requires your presence at the bridge as Tazuna has been possibly kidnapped. Hurry." The cat disappeared after conveying its curt message before any of the genin could so much as open their mouths. They shared a look, mixing worry, excitement and anticipation.

"Well, what are you waiting for!" Naruto cried out, jumping away from the table. "Let's go!" Sakura frowned, clutching her sleeves worriedly. "We can't just leave Inari and Tsunami alone…" "Nonsense, Neko said he'd protect them. Let's go, there's probably going to be a fight and we're _missing it!" _

The excited blonde leaped out of the window without hesitation, his genin teammates having little choice but to follow him. "He's such an idiot…" They both murmured at the same time, causing Sasuke to frown angrily and Sakura to blush like a tomato. _"God… I'll be dealing with the consequences of that for a long time." _The dark-haired boy huffed, weaving through the dark trees towards the bridge.

* * *

They arrived at the bridge just in time to see an unfamiliar person standing with Tazuna, encased in some sort of barrier. At first they thought that that was the alleged kidnapper until they caught notice of the gleaming yellow-green eyes that stood out starkly against the darkness that obscured the rest of their features. _"Neko." _They thought more or less simultaneously. They were far less relieved to see Zabuza though.

Before they could launch an attack (they knew that their wayward sensei had to be somewhere in the vicinity) they were attacked by the boy in the hunter-nin mask that had saved Zabuza in their first encounter. He used his senbon needles with frightening accuracy, seeming to be completely impervious to the dark unlike the three genin that could only dance around senselessly, trying to avoid being hit. _"Where the hell is Sensei?" _

Sakura worried silently, wincing at the feeling of the needles shifting in her skin with every movement. She didn't dare touch them, and wouldn't have had the time to do so anyway as the boy was relentless in his attacks although they were non-lethal… so far.

It wasn't even more than a few seconds into their fight with the masked boy when they felt Zabuza unleash his killer intent, no less frightening than the first time they felt it but somewhat less of a shock the second time around. Then the world around them exploded. Simple as that.

Naruto was thrown straight through an old tree and hurtling several metres through air before coming crashing down on the ruined landscape among crushed stone and broken trees, momentarily unconscious but otherwise uninjured (apart from the momentous bruise he'd be getting on his back). He simply had no time to react.

Sakura was similarly swept clean off her feet by the blast and while she hadn't hit anything on her trip she landed incredibly badly, her right leg smashing against an uprooted tree in an awkward angle and snapping instantly. She pain and shock knocked her out almost immediately.

Sasuke however was luckier – when he was dodging the senbon it was difficult but manageable – he couldn't help but silently thank Neko for the training experience he'd gotten doing something similar when he was sent flying - it felt like he'd been smacked into by a speeding brick wall. He was frightened; he didn't know what was going on and who had attacked him and when he saw the flying trees and rock debris that he would be crashing into he… found himself dodging them easily, the hazardous objects moving in almost slow motion while he leaped against them and tried to get out of whatever jutsu he'd landed in.

It was a futile effort in the end – he'd tried landing on his feet instead of coming crashing down but the uneven relief caught his ankle and brought him down anyway, snapping the bone. He battled the darkness that was creeping in his vision for a few seconds before succumbing to oblivion, the pain in his leg momentarily forgotten.

Hatake Kakashi had been hiding in the thick foliage, watching Neko interact with two ninja with suspicious calm - although if their conversation was anything to go by then they weren't exactly on friendly terms. More like cold and detached politeness on Neko's part and outright mocking on Zabuza's, but did this prove that the enigmatic man really wasn't working with Gato? _"Shame that I still can't see his face… he's better at hiding it than I am." _He thought with a snort.

When Team 7 arrived he'd been surprised and slightly worried – they'd proven that they could work like a team, yes but this was hardly a situation for genin to be in. If anything, _he _was in for a hard time. He groaned in exasperation when the trio didn't even _try _to hide or observe, instead launching themselves directly at Zabuza, only to be intercepted by the masked nin with the senbons.

_Now _was a time to step in but before he could find a proper position to take the boy out with a single hit, Zabuza unleashed his killer intent and Kakashi had only a second to notice Neko falling down on his knees _("That's kind of… disappointing. Sakura did better.") _before the world around him went dark and his head snapped back almost instantly and connected with the trunk of the tree he was standing in. It was a miracle he didn't break every bone in his body, especially when a falling tree landed inches away from his sprawled form.

* * *

Carrying Sakura in his arms (_"She seems to be getting heavier with every step.")_, Neko only had to wonder a few yards when he come upon Naruto, groaning quietly in a little pothole of his own. "Naruto, are you alright?" He asked the boy, wary of looking into his bright blue eyes. It was his fault this had happened.

"N… Neko-san? Is that Sakura? Is she alright? How about bastard and sensei? Oh yeah, and I guess the bridge-guy too. Did you _feel _that jutsu? It was like _whoosh _and the whole world went out like a light, man….I've _got _to learn how to do that, I'm going to be Hokage you know!" The blond chattered, mindless of the darkness and destruction around him.

"Sakura's alright Naruto, she's just… asleep. Can you walk? We have to find the others, they're injured." Neko asked, surreptitiously casting a lightening charm on the girl. She now weighed no more than a packet of sugar.

"Sure I can walk, I bet that bastard Sasuke is sleeping too, lazy ass." The blond buy jumped to his feet, unsteady only for a few moments before zooming off. In the wrong direction. Sighing, Neko trudged towards Sasuke, _not _looking forward to the conversation he would be having with their sensei.

* * *

Tsunami was met with a curious sight that night – she'd just nodded off when she felt something land on the bottom floor of her house with a crash and a groan of pain. Frightened but unwilling to let anything endanger her son Tsunami rose from her futon and quietly slipped down the dark staircase, frowning at the light left on in the kitchen while the three genin were gone. When she looked down however…

"Tazuna?" She exclaimed, rushing down and kneeling by the old man. "Hey Nami-chan… don't worry I'm fine… almost got killed though… Neko's _weird_…" He murmured incoherently. Tsunami just sighed in an exasperated manner (although deep down she couldn't help but worry about her old father) and went to fetch a blanket and a pillow for her dad – he didn't look like he was moving anytime soon and she _wouldn't _be carrying him upstairs by herself. So there.

It wasn't even half an hour later when she was waken up _again_, this time by the sound of her father yelling about being "stepped on like a doormat by a little munchkin". Much yelling ensued, most of it courtesy of a little blond boy. Resigning herself to not getting much sleep that night Tsunami wondered downstairs again, this time met with the sight of the four ninja propping up her swearing father against the oven while an unfamiliar man in a tawny coat and hood was standing to the side, completely still.

"Excuse me, can I help y…" She asked softly but gasped when the painfully familiar yellow-green eyes of the stranger met hers almost instantly. "Ne… Neko-san?" She asked while those large eyes blinked slowly and the figure nodded. "Would you… would you like some tea?"

* * *

**A/N: **Chapter the 9th! I feel a little frustrated with how this chapter turned out - on one hand, it furthered the story (a little bit) but on the other hand... it just feels _awkward_. I'll probably end up changing it at some point - I'm an obsessive compulsive editor. If I waited around for every chapter to feel comfortable, I'd never get anything out (so you can't accuse me of laziness - nyah). ^.^

Thank you very much for everyone that took the time to read this, copious flaws and all. It makes writing stories feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Nevertheless, if you find something wrong with the story - (can't imagine how though, I'm absolutely awesome... I am!) then feel free to point it out. I want it to be the best it can be. Also, Neko-san warmly thanks all of those that have complimented his... slightly capricious character. O.O I could have made him a Harry Potter clone but decided that the character I had in mind bore little resemblance to the Boy-Who-Lived and as such, I would be better off calling him an OC and then shaping his character how I see fit.

I am in the control!

Ahem.

Monkey in a Jump Suit

**salamanderzrock: **I've read a lot of Naruto, HP and Naruto x HP stories... and if I had to read/write the Land of Waves arc one more time, I'd probably would have torn my hair out and frightened the hell out of my ferret. XD

**Tashio**: Got it in one. Like any wizard, he can do definite damage (I mean, if a complete dunce can manage Fiendfyre…) but he's not a fighter and he was sort of relying on the ninja to come in and do their jobs. He just wanted to keep Tazuna safe.

**Fk306 animelover**: Then more is on the way. ^.^

**LaRire**: Having an OC gives you hell of a lot more room to express their personalities without having to constantly try to rationalise each trait and action like with cannon characters. Neko can do whatever the hell he wants (within reason). Which is why I think he's awesome. ^.^

**marc**: Neko's about to join the big boys and girls. XD Not really, he has some way to go before he can claim that.

**GoldenRat: **Knowing doesn't necessarily mean anything. ;)

**The-Living-Shadow**: Zabuza's going to have a tough time in this fic, let me tell you that. XD


	9. Chapter 10

~ Chapter 10 ~ Whoops!

* * *

The crimson sun was beginning to (just) barely peak over the horizon and was setting the still dark forest into sharp contrast between the pitch-black foliage and the golden red of the sun, creating a beautiful if slightly eerie horizon that Neko would have surely appreciated, had he been in a state to do so. As it was, he was crouched on the gleaming wooden floor of his tent, his back resting against his unkempt bead and a warm cup of tea in his lap.

The faux-cat had not slept a wink in almost two days, yet he could not bring himself to even attempt to rest, preferring to stare into the swirling amber mass of his tea while his brain churned with attempts to explain exactly _what _the hell had just happened.

His attention promptly swung topic to topic, never really settling on one issue until he had forced himself to clear his mind and tackled the issues at hand one at a time, for he had, once again, managed to seriously shake up his world and now he worried that it might be beyond repair, simply because he…

"…didn't leave him to die…" He murmured, blinking his weary eyes. "Why couldn't I leave him to die?" He repeated the sentence, rubbing his aching eyes with the sleeve of his coat. Although the thought made him feel sick to the stomach, he couldn't help but feel that if he had just waited for the silver-haired ninja to come around from his small knock to the head, then Kakashi would have undoubtedly taken care of the immobilised assassin and his accomplice, thus rendering the problem null and void.

"Momochi wanted to kill Tazuna." He whispered to himself in confusion, vainly trying to work out the reasons behind his own impromptu attempt to save Momochi from death. "He would have killed me, too. He kills people for money, he _likes _what he does, I've heard the way he talked about what "being a real ninja" was all about."

He couldn't help but feel that at least part of the reason behind hiding the Mist ninja from Team 7 was because he had never really taken the man as an actual _threat_. Sure, he was apprehensive of what the man was capable of, but Neko's confidence in his own magic, combined with his sheltered life in the barrier (where danger was only an abstract term that applied to other people) had meant that he'd never really felt like he was in any danger… not until he had lost control in the forest.

Immediately, feelings of shame swelled up in his chest. Although he had never considered himself to be much of a fighter, he had always prided himself with at least being a competent magician and someone who could very much stand up for themselves. Not someone who would fall apart at the first taste of what a fight was like, especially against chakra-based attacks, he thought sulkily.

And his treacherous brain wouldn't stop conjuring up alternative ways of dealing with the situation that _wouldn't _have ended up with his newfound frie… acquaintances being put in danger. "Over a hundred years of magical education well spent." He groaned, too embarrassed to even remember his "fight".

Clearly, outsmarting a ninja would take a hell of a lot more than just taking pot-shots and hoping for a lucky shot. "Ok, what's done is done. Maybe I'll get my rematch later on, if Zabuza doesn't kick the bucket in my pocket. What am I going to do about Hatake" He murmured out loud, drinking the last sip of tea left in the cup and putting it down with grim resolution.

Because while outwardly, everything was fine – great even! – The situation for Neko was nowhere near "good". If he could even contemplate fooling three inexperienced trainees, no way their instructor would be fooled. No _way_ in Helheim would the experienced ninja believe that the "Demon of the Mist" was injured enough to escape with his accomplice but unable to even try to attack his (mostly) unconscious enemies or more importantly, go for the seemingly unguarded Tazuna. He simply wouldn't buy it, and this incongruence would swiftly land the khaki-eyed cat-impersonator in the "suspicious" zone.

And not without reason, he thought with a twinge of guilt. Whichever way you looked at it, he was harbouring a wanted criminal, and his incompetence had nearly cost Tazuna his life. A grim snort left his lips, before he shook his head decisively. "No point in wallowing." He told himself firmly. "I'm going to make sure that the cocky bastard doesn't die, and then I'm going to lie… to a ninja. A ninja that was right all along – knowing Tazuna it was ridiculous to think that he could be left alone… stupid beardy bastard." He grumbled, fishing a wicked looking knife out of his pocket, warily fingering the gleaming blade. Although minimalist in style and rather crude around the edges, it was undoubtedly a very efficient weapon.

"Well, Momochi-san." He murmured with apprehension, setting the blade down on the floor in preparation for a complicated healing ritual.

"Let's see what I can do about that back of yours…"

* * *

Although Neko had loathed to leave Tsunami to deal with the situation alone, he couldn't bear the thought of staying in the presence of the people he had felt he'd let down… especially since he wanted to be far away from Kakashi before the delayed sleep charm would kick and force him to retire for the night.

Although the trick had left a dirty taste in his mouth, he simply couldn't risk being confronted by the nin who had been shooting him incomprehensible looks all the way back ho… to Inari's house. In the end he had refused a slack-jawed Tsunami's offer of tea (he glanced at his cup with a smile) and had all but disappeared, not without giving the Uchiha boy and the pink-haired girl some icepacks.

Although he had managed to set the broken bones with little difficulty, the splintered fragments of bone had left the surrounding flesh tender and sore, so he had advised them to try and stay off the injured appendages as much as possible. They had shot him weird looks when presented them with ice-packs, the girl more surprised than anything but Sasuke with an odd frown on his face, and Neko had promptly checked to ascertaining that Tazuna was in no way injured and that all the bumps, scratches and bruises had miraculously disappeared from Naruto's skin.

Neko could say that he was honestly surprised – even with their accelerated healing, a witch or wizard couldn't heal _that _fast, he'd only seen those sort of regenerative powers on certain magical creatures, such as werewolves. Still, in no mood to ask how, Neko had promptly disappeared to do some brooding of his own.

* * *

A pale face, a young face – barely entering adolescence – gazed into the mirror with rapt fascination and with a slight touch of disgust on its expression. Uchiha Sasuke had been waiting for this moment for what, as far as he'd been concerned, had been the entirety of his life. At first, when the mysterious jutsu had all but propelled him through the air like a stuffed doll, he hadn't really understood what had been going on – only the survival instincts that had been bred and beaten into him by his family and years in the Academy had allowed him to even _try _to save himself from injury in the hell that was flying debris, pitch darkness and utter chaos. Ultimately, it hadn't stopped him from breaking his leg and falling unconscious (Sasuke scowled at that. He hated the idea of anyone – especially the blonde dobe and the still unknown entity that was Neko– seeing him so… weak).

It was only later, when he and his team had been trekking back to Tazuna's house did he realise that he could remember – with startling clarity – even the most mundane details from his experience, including a glimpse of a stricken leather-clad figure crouching beside Tazuna and Neko's wide, startled eyes before the boy had been forced to dodge for his life and ultimately knocked unconscious.

Surely such a detail wasn't worth remembering? But when he _did _realise it, he had been barely able to suppress his excitement and had forced himself to walk normally. He hadn't told his team, since he doubted that anyone bar his teacher would really understand the gravity of the moment, the importance of what he had just realised.

Thankfully, even though Tazuna's house was rather sparsely furnished and was very lacking in anything that could be considered a luxury, there had been a rather large mirror in the bathroom that he had taken advantage of, and was now staring into his own crimson, whirling eyes.

"I'm one step closer." He whispered, ignoring the way his eyes stung from lack of moisture due to his refusal to blink or the way his head had begun to swim, almost as if he'd been hypnotising himself. He was finally one step closer to extracting payment from the one person who had gone and taken everything from him. But although the Sharingan had been his goal for as long as he could pronounce the name, he had been startled by the disturbing resemblance he now held with the man he hated most in the world.

Oh, he'd known that he was similar in appearance to his brother – it had been a perverse point of pride in him, once. But before, he had always associated his own pale, sharply contrasted face as strictly his own, since most Uchiha looked very similar to each other. But now with the famed copy-wheel eyes, he looked so much like his hated brother that he had done a startled flinch when he activated his bloodline. Despite telling himself that it was a proud achievement, Sasuke couldn't help but have mixed feelings about the new development.

Turning away from the mirror, he closed his eyes and willed his chakra away from his eyes, returning them to their original obsidian colour. He felt the world become significantly dimmer and he felt like bemoaning their absence. Only the memory of his instructor's collapse stopped him from keeping them active all the time. And besides, he smirked settling down in his bedroll beside the snoring mob of yellow hair that was peeking out of the dark sleeping bag; he wanted to see the look on the blond boy's face when he used his newfound ability in battle.

* * *

When Momochi Zabuza came to in a strange room with odd, uneven and flickering lighting he felt two things – he was beyond _mad_ and he was damn sore. Truthfully, although he'd never admit it, he was also concerned for the glaring absence of Haku, but he was in no position to do anything about any of this as his limbs were rather stubbornly refusing to move from their position on the wooden floor.

With great difficulty he moved his head to scan his surroundings but found them to be void of anything substantial, just darkness beyond a few feet from him. The light, which he had assumed to be some flickering light bulb imitation in a sorry attempt to frighten him were actually small, flickering blue-toned flames that encompassed him in an odd oblong shape. And despite the fact that they looked very much real, he could feel no heat emanating from them. Which was a real shame since the floor was as cold as fu…

"I see that you're awake. Good." Came an oddly accented voice from his left. Cursing for not noticing someone sneaking up on him he tried to look in the respective direction but had to abort his efforts as he felt something akin to molten lava shoot down his spine. Despite the very much unpleasant sensation, Zabuza couldn't help but wonder how he could feel so much pain in a body that had had its back obviously and thoroughly broken._"_

_So I'm not paralysed…? Why can't I move my body then?_" He wondered, feeling apprehensive but also slightly relieved. He had all but written himself off as a ninja, it simply wasn't realistic to hope that someone could (or would) cure injuries of such a nature, and a crippled ninja was as good as a dead ninja. How many committed suicide out of desperation when they realised that their only source of income, themselves, had become all but useless?

"Don't thrash about, you pillock. I just barely managed to heal you." Said a grumpy voice from his left. This time, Zabuza was able to carefully turn his head and look at his self-proclaimed saviour, and narrowed his eyes when he saw the annoyingly familiar orange coat and hood, with two gleaming eyes peering at him with unnerving intensity.

He clearly remembered trying to disembowel the bastard, so why was he helping him? _Was _he helping him? In the end, you couldn't interrogate a corpse, and despite his reclusive nature, Zabuza Momochi knew _a lot _of things that many people didn't want coming out in the open. And maybe he was just a vindictive bastard, out for some revenge. God knows it's something that he would have done.

"What do you want from me? " He sneered in the direction of the short figure who hadn't moved an inch since it had arrived.

"Your soul.- Came the gravely reply.

…

…

…

"… What?" Zabuza gasped out, feeling far more apprehensive than such a ridiculous statement warranted. "No, just jesting. I doubt you even have a soul." The figure said, ignoring the injured ninja's furious expression. "Bastard." He said, almost as an afterthought. Neko wasn't even trying to be truly insulting, he honestly didn't know if people here had constructs such as souls.

Maybe they got along perfectly fine without one but Neko knew one thing – he needed _his_, and it wasn't going to be tarnished by Zabuza Momochi who would live, whether he liked it or not. _"Tea is really good for motivating yourself." _He mused, bringing out his wand and ignoring the debilitated ninja's laughter after seeing the way the leather-clad person seemed to venerate the piece of wood.

"I am willing to heal you as much as I possibly can, in return for..." He trailed off, fingering the honey-coloured wand. "Well?" Zabuza snarled, feeling fed up with the emotional roller-coaster that he seemed to be experiencing. "What is it that you want? Need someone killed but are too fucking weak for that?" He snarled, _hating _the feeling of helplessness that this stranger had evoked in him.

"What I need you do to," the figure stated, bringing the stick's _glowing _point to just under Zabuza's neck, "is to promise me that you'll be good."

* * *

Nothing ever seemed to go poor Naruto's way. He could handle being disliked – he had dealt with it his entire life, even if Sakura's constant rejections stung a little more than he would like, and he had learnt very early on that if he wanted anything at all, he would be forced to work harder for it than anyone else he knew. But that was fine as well. He would overcome, and he would be the most awesome Hokage that had ever lived, and would be respected by everyone and have gorgeous women hanging off his Hokage robes, only to be beaten up by a jealous and madly in love Sakura.

Sasuke would be forced to bring him gourmet ramen and bow whenever he saw him and be forced to recite three reasons why Naruto was so much better than him. Oh, and Kakashi sensei would always be on time and teach all the jutsus he wanted, and bring him ramen as well. Or he'd threaten to ban porn in Konoha, even if it caused civil war in the village between all the raging perverts that were hiding amongst the populace. Also, he'd have a…

"God damn it you insufferable little twit!" Roared the Kyuubi, his nine tails smashing violently against the bars of his cage, rousing Naruto from his Hokage induced day-dream. Oh right… he'd momentarily forgotten his reason for going down _that_ particular thought route. Not that he needed a particular reason…

"You _will _listen to me." He drawled malevolently, bringing its sneering face full of slavering jaws and enormous fangs until it nearly touched the bars of its prison, nearly nose to nose to a wide-eyed Naruto.

"Where… where am I? And who are you!" He yelled, pointing a trembling finger at the enormous beast that looked like it wanted nothing more than to squish him under a single massive claw.

"I'm… in _you._" He drawled impatiently but with a sense of smug satisfaction at the look of dawning horror on Naruto's face. Oh, how he hated his pitiful little human… but that would have to wait. "In… in me, but how… the Fourth sealed you away... you can't talk to me, you're _in _me!" Naruto screamed, jumping back from the cage, seemingly unaffected by the several inches of water that encompassed the Kyuubi's cage.

"Cease your pitiful rambling." He growled. After spending _years _in a dark cage with nothing but his own hatred and vengeful thoughts for company, Kyuubi's patience was very, _very _thin. "Yes, I'm inside of you. And while I _was _sealed away, I can most certainly talk to you. A privilege I won't be abusing, I'm sure." He snarled, sending the blond boy a disdainful glance. When your eyes were the size of a house and in a demented shade of red, disdainful glances were very effective.

"Yes, your _beloved _Fourth Hokage sealed me away in his own _son_ while knowing very well what happens to jinchuuriki, so you haven't been a stranger to betrayal from birth, child." He roared in delight.

"Get used to it and learn to deal with it, as humans are fickle, nasty creatures that will betray you many times in the future to come. I've seen it all before. You will not shame me by being weak." He snarled, retreating from the bars of its prison and away from the hated piece of paper that carried a single word – "Seal".

The blond boy seemed to be uncharacteristically silent and still, gaping at the enormous fox with a myriad of expressions ranging from fear, anger, incredulousness and sadness that the Kyuubi didn't particularly care for. It was far from the look of awe and reverence he wanted, but it would have to do… for now.

"As much as I _enjoy_ talking to unintelligent insects, I've brought you here for a reason." He drawled, ignoring the blond boy who was currently whimpering some nonsense about "just wanting to sleep" and "I want my ramen". "You _will_ find the person… the person that comes and goes without care for the laws of nature, and you will…"

Now the Kyuubi scrunched up its muzzle as if it had bitten into something incredibly unpleasant. "…befriend" it spat out the foul word. "…him, and follow them until you happen to _help _them… save their life… anything that they deem significant and _then_…" The Kyuubi drawled in a terrifying rendition of what could be a smile. "… we will have them in our grasp, and with him, _anything_ that we want from this world, or the next. Anything at all."

* * *

**AN: **Holy crap, did _that _take some time. And it still came out crap. And at least it seems to be going in the general direction that I wanted it to. Truthfully, there are so many things that I want my poor Neko to do that I just can't decide what to do first!

But seriously - although I like writing and find it a very relaxing thing to do, I am aware that I have a long way to go, especially in terms of syntax and structure. So ego-kicking criticism are always welcome!

**Tarion4ka**: As you wish. ;)

**XxAlysxX**: I try not to make him seem like an overpowered know-it-all… but I also have to keep in mind that I don't know a single protagonist who wasn't at least _somewhat _overpowered, especially when it comes to the bad guys. After all, if he was completely unremarkable he wouldn't be where he is now. ;)

**Anon**: I shall do my best to comply. Hope you enjoyed it!

**Firey Son of Hades**: That's the idea though. A wizard who's never had to fear for his life will not be able to just "get in there". Now that he's seen that magic can hold its own against chakra, he may become slightly more bold. ;)

**Tashio**: Yup! I try to do it all the time now but sometimes may brain does things without me knowing. It's a problem. XD

**Kiseki no Tenshi**: I've read several fics (some of them very well-written) who try to pass off magic as chakra and I simply don't buy it. So conflict is to come! ^.^

**GoldenRat**: I thought I needed to put in a little context for the chapter to make sense, otherwise it might seem like I'm pulling things from out of my… head. O.o That's what I was going to say… hehe…

**Hedwigfan**: Definitely not in a while, sorry to say. But there's going to be a lot of Konoha nin, if that's any reassurance!


	10. Chapter 11

~ Chapter 11 ~ The Musings of a Fox

* * *

The monstrous fox that was the Kyuubi no Kitsune continuously paced in its cramped, damp and thoroughly squalid cage while its brow furrowed in frenzied thought. Perhaps for the first time in over a decade, the great beast took little notice of its less than adequate accommodation, far too used to the muted lighting and the dirty water staining its claws.

Shaking its massive numerous tails (akin to an indignant cat), the fox growled to itself, deep in thought. He was far too occupied with the recent developments involving the arrival of the mage and the fox's own jailor, the yellow-furred human child to notice much else.

Curiously enough, thinking was not a naturally tenable position for a tailed beast. It's not as if the demons lacked potential for intelligent thought, they just had little need for it. As the most powerful entity to walk the Earth in thousands of years and a force of nature in itself, the Kyuubi loved chaos and delighted in creating it; especially if it involved tearing apart human settlements and watching them scatter in panic. In that aspect he was incredibly similar to a child kicking an anthill.

He had never expected any form of significant resistance, either from the humans or the other tailed beasts so taking the time to think things through was a rare occurrence for the fox. However, the circumstances at hand was far too delicate and his own position far too tenuous to be able to go barging through the situation and taking what he wanted, despite how much he longed to do so.

As a rule, the "demons" (the fox snorted at the ridiculous human name for them) felt nothing but contempt towards the human kind, although the way they chose to express their dislike varied greatly. There were those, like the fox itself that _hated_ humans with a passion that was akin to a raging inferno. What was once merely mild contempt and amusement towards their pitiful struggles to survive and procreate had soured very quickly after spending several decades trapped and manipulated by overzealous, greedy and overconfident humans who aimed to control something that they had very little understanding of.

One human in particular came to mind here, and the fox felt its massive chest rumble in the furious growl that made the bars in its cage rattle. "Uchiha…Madara…" He snarled in helpless rage, recalling the human insect with the cocky smirk and the swirling eyes that proved to be the bane of his existence. "I'll get you, just you wait… you'll wish that you were never _born_!" He roared. It took some time and a lot of pacing before the demon felt calm enough to continue through the train of thought he had lost when he remembered the name of the wretched human.

Humans. Truly wretched, flawed and pointless creatures they were. But not all demons felt the same way of course, the fox sneered. The three-tailed turtle, Sanbi, for one, was a lazy sack of excrement and poor excuse of a demon that did not seem to particularly dislike the overtrumped hairless apes too much, and was content to simply avoid them to the best of his abilities.

The fox was forced to concede that as the only beast still free from a human host and living in the wild, the turtle might have had more foresight that anyone else. "But no." the fox grumbled, unable to stomach the idea of someone being _better_ than him at anything. "He was just too lazy to feel or do anything beyond _existing_." He sneered, swiping a massive claw against the bars of its cage in frustration, only for appendage to do little more than shower some sparks against the "metal".

Not that the Kyuubi expect any different. While humans were weak, annoying and insignificant, the Shinigami were anything but… well, at least they weren't weak and insignificant. Annoying, however? Tremendously so.

But, the beast mused to himself, humans were not always so despicably pathetic. There was once a race of people in the Elemental countries that were a definite force to be reckoned with, even to the strongest of the tailed beasts. While none of them were actually _stronger_ than him (the fox preened to himself), as a nation they had seemed to be nigh unstoppable. The demon could never understand how they seemed content to stay hidden and not wage war on their pathetic neighbours who couldn't fight off a bout of cold if it came down to it.

But anyhow, the Kyuubi could vividly remember the time long ago, when he himself was but a youngster at less than a thousand years old, when he had stumbled across a human settlement unlike any other. Although very well hidden, all but invisible unless encountered by chance, the humans had not prepared for the unstoppable force that was a curious demon, tearing through the invisible barriers like an animal through thorny vines – it was painful but not impossible, even if the strange power seemed to dampen his strength somewhat.

The Kyuubi gave a wry grin at the memory. He had not expected the defences to be that substantial when he tried to attack the humans but once he had engaged them, he found himself fighting tooth and claw when set upon by some of the people he had learned to associate as "mages". Despite their small stature and frail bodies they seemed to command a massive amount of foreign energy that they unleashed on the unsuspecting demon with surprising ferocity. Although the demon would never admit it, had he been a creature of flesh and bone he may have very well perished in that battle.

Although demons did not have substantial bodies and as such, did not scar, the fox could have sworn he felt a twinge run down its furred flank at the memory of one of the humans attacking the Kyuubi with a strange attack that had turned the battle from a standstill to a victory on the part of the humans. It had been a strange flame, fire in the form of a strong reptilian creature. It was almost like a dragon, only this creature had wings on its back and a body much more like that of a crocodile rather than a serpent. Regardless of aesthetics, the attack was powerful, chaotic and _painful_.

Normally the Kyuubi would have laughed at the idea of anyone attacking _him_ with _fire_ of all things, but he had paid for his folly in that regard. Worse of all, the damn creature would not extinguish like a normal flame or let off its attack despite the demon's best efforts to throw it off or dispel its form. "Cursed fire", the humans had called it.

Element had clashed against element. While wrestling with the fierce creature whose very touch seemed to burn the demon, Kyuubi also had to deal with the unpleasant defences of the other humans. Attacks from all directions tore at him incessantly but every time the furious demon took a swipe at one of the robe-clad figures they would disappear instantly only to renew their attack a heartbeat later.

The very ground seemed to shake beneath his paws but for once, it was not his doing but the result of several disfigured creatures from stone rousing from the ground lumbering towards him. Whenever the Kyuubi swiped his tail or unleashed a maelstrom of flame at them they had disintegrated with a satisfying groan, only for them to _repair_ themselves and come right back at him.

In the end it became apparent that the humans would not be letting up anytime soon – if anything, there seemed to be more turning up by the hour – and that they didn't seem to be running out of that strange energy that they seemed to wield with such ease. The demon was forced to retreat without having destroyed a single building, despite the large stone structures tantalising him from the distance.

Having retreated to a safe distance from the pesky humans, the fox watched with displeasure as all the terrific damage he had wrought to the human land was _reversed_ with seemingly casual flicks of their tiny hands and those spindly sticks of theirs, while the demon felt his very body thrum in displeasure at the feeling of the strange wards being reinforced.

In the end both demon and human had a strange sort of impasse – the humans had made it clear that they were capable and willing to defend themselves, but otherwise seemed happy enough to leave him well enough alone. As far as the fox was concerned, that had never really happened before. Humans either wanted him dead or enslaved, but never free and wild. Kyuubi did _not_ like having one of his most ardent views shifted in such way so he had stayed, watched and learned.

In the end, the leader of the people that called themselves the "Wizarding" had approached him and while the conversation had been long and not a little hostile, they had come to an agreement where the Kyuubi could come and go within the considerable territory that the Wizarding had secured, but only as long as he "kept his chaos and destruction very much to himself".

But the beast could not forget the words that the elderly man had said as he had turned his back on one of the most unpredictable creatures in existence, alone and without the swathe of bodyguards that 'important' people usually insisted on. "Believe it or not, Kyuubi no Kitsune." He had said with a kind smile that the fox had not liked the look of, just on principle. "But the more you rage, kill and destroy, the closer the people will band together and promote peace among one another. So it is imperative that you are free."

And while somewhat offended as being labelled as a "harbinger of cooperation", the fox was happy enough to have someplace to roam when the sights and sounds of screeching humans and burning buildings began to lose their appeal. "_Not that it happened often_. " He thought with a wild grin.

And although the beast hadn't been _sad_ when those odd Wizarding had disappeared during one of his long absences, he had certainly preferred them to the sort that were running around nowadays. _Especially_ the founders of Konoha, it thought with an irritated snarl.

After the departure of the Wizarding, Kyuubi had been given free roam to the entirety of the world until the humans had proliferated like rodents to such an extent that the old ruins of the Wizarding had become his only sanctuary. Demon and human relationships had soured significantly as there was simply no territory large enough for a territorial demon to establish itself without pesky humans moving in.

But still, demons reigned supreme and things seemed to work if not well, than passably enough. It was only after the emerging ninja clans began to gather together, ally themselves to the Summons and compile knowledge that things had become… troublesome for the demons. And it was only after being sealed away by the ninja of Konoha that the Kyuubi had truly understood the old man's words.

Without the threat of demons hanging over their heads, ninja had become obsolete and were forced to fight amongst themselves and use jinchuuriki as "aces" to wield over one another in a bid for power and resources. After all, what would be the point of dedicating your disgustingly short lifespan to become a ninja, if all you ever did was nothing more substantial than beating up bandits or catching wayward pets?

Not that Kyuubi cared, of course. He found the concept of humans annihilating each other simply delightful. But he would _not_ be anyone's pawn, especially to creatures that relied on begging for favours from Shinigami (the fox sulked) and making friends with creatures more powerful (and more _bored_) than themselves.

Kyuubi felt his nostalgic mood evaporate at the memory of the damned toad he had faced when the foolish Uchiha had released him (for a woefully short period of time) from his prison. Kyuubi swore that as soon as he was finally free from the Namikaze brat, he would find that slack-bellied slimy amphibian and gut it from its overly large mouth to its spindly legs for stopping him from enacting the vengeance that was so long overdue. Oh how he ached to destroy the lifework of the damned Senju and Uchiha, and to wipe off their smug faces from the mountain they had disfigured just beyond their village.

But, first things first, he had to obtain freedom first, and quickly. The great beast was no fool and he _knew_ that the seal aimed to do more than simply imprison him within the child– it was intended to destroy him as a conscious entity by filtering his very essence, his physical chakra through the seal into the foolish baby ape that had been unlucky enough to be born on the day that adults decided to meddle in politics.

Kyuubi's time was running out even by human standards, so he really needed to make a plan and set it in motion as quickly as possible. Humans had grown catastrophically mistrustful of each other and it was only a matter of time before they wanted to destroy him and his brethren (no matter how much he loathed them, they were his only kin) before someone else decided to use them as weapons of mass destructions.

But they had made one miscalculation, the Kyuubi thought with a fanged grin that conveyed very little joy. They thought him a mindless machine that cared for little, beyond fighting and destroying, as in the case of Shukaku the One-tailed Tanuki. But the one of the little things that he _did_ care for included freedom, and he was willing to go above and beyond to secure it.

So when Kyuubi had felt _it_, among the backdrop of normal chakra that permeated the world, the first taste of magic it had in thousands of years, he had been astounded. The demon could have _sworn_ that magic users had perished or moved on to a different world for reasons he did not understand. Yet here it was, so tantalisingly close and impossible to misinterpret as anything else.

And luckily for him, it was powerful and definitely wielded by an experienced user, which suggested age and with it, maturity. The demon didn't expect the magic user to like him or trust him, but there was a chance that he might see beyond the obvious and grant him the freedom he craved. After all, hadn't the mages he'd seen dabbled in something very much akin to seals?

However, Kyuubi could only _howl_ in frustration about his own helpless state. The seal had practically completely separated him from his jailor's mind and had limited his interaction with the outside world to what he could sense through his jailor's chakra and emotions. There was simply no way he could interact with the mage on his own terms.

The best he could do was try to persuade the child to make friends with the magic-user and, if possible, gain a favour from him that they could use to exchange for his freedom. He was desperate enough to promise the wizard to stay away from the humans (for a predetermined period of time, of course) if need be, even if deals struck with wizards were a tad too binding for his taste.

So far, his progress had been poor, to say the least. He had, with massive amounts of chakra and concentration on his part, brought the small human to his own mindscape and confronted him with his existence. The boy, though shocked, seemed unsurprised of his presence, so the fox deduced that the boy must have known that he was a jinchuuriki. _"Well of course he knew!" _Kyuubi raged, gnashing his teeth. _"He is stealing _my _life force so he can play ninja!"_

Keeping the boy there also proved to be a strain – the boy didn't want to talk to Kyuubi and to prevent his escape he had to exert a ridiculous amount of power to anchor the boy in his own mindscape long enough to tell him to keep close to the mage and that his own father had ruined his life.

Kyuubi mused that his urgency to convey his message and his innate hatred for the boy that would end his life may have made him come across rather strongly, and may cause the boy to be wary of the magic-user. Kyuubi _hated_ not being in control and having to rely on dumb luck and an even dumber human. With a resigned growl and a snort of disgust, the demon spun around in a quick circle akin to his (very distant) canine cousins and lay down within his cage, aware of but helpless to prevent the sewage water from staining his fur.

It had been happening more often, as of late. Kyuubi didn't _have a_ body – he did not need to eat, to sleep or even to breathe. He was a chakra entity that should be above such pitiful weaknesses. Nevertheless, he found himself growing… tired. He could no longer stay awake for centuries at a time, only taking naps for leisure not necessity. But then again, his last host hadn't been his death sentence either. Now, whenever he felt his chakra drain (more so than usual, of course), probably to cure the whelp's injuries, he knew that he would never get that chakra back. If the boy really did became a ninja and flung around overpowered techniques at his leisure, he'd be gone before the decade was up.

* * *

It was so late into the night that the hour was closer to dawn than to dusk, but Naruto had yet to sleep a single wink after he had woken from his incredibly strange dream… at least, what he fervently hoped was a dream. He had jolted violently into consciousness, covered in cold sweat and hyperventilating. Disoriented and unnerved, Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself, and then another when the first one failed to yield any results.

Untangling himself from the blankets, he stood up shakily and walked towards the bathroom wishing for some cool water and fervently _not_ thinking about the disturbing dream he'd just had. In the hallway he passed Sasuke who'd just left the bathroom himself and if normally Naruto would have made a crack at Sasuke regarding the time he spent on his appearance (or something much ruder), now all that Naruto managed was a brief wave that could be interpreted either as "hi" or "bugger off, I'm busy".

Sasuke opened his mouth to make a retort towards Naruto's zombie-esque mode of walking and to aim a barb at him falling apart after such an "easy" fight but after seeing the unprecedented haunted look on the other boy's face, he faltered. Sasuke had never been very good at establishing relationships – he never had to. As a young boy, all that he had needed was his older brother and his approval while other children of his age held very little interest for him. But after _that_ incident when his most precious person in the world betrayed him in the most horrible manner he had steeled his heart and kept his distance from anyone who tried to befriend him (and try they did) so as to keep his goals clear and not be hindered in his path as an avenger.

In a nutshell, the Uchiha boy felt completely out of his depth. He was, quite possible, the worst possible person to try and comfort someone. Naruto wasn't even _supposed_ to look vulnerable and weak. He was supposed to be loud and obnoxious and _constant_. So, he did what he felt was tried and true.

"Hn, dobe." He smirked; making it clear with his tone of voice that Naruto should be very much insulted. It had always seemed to incite an explosive reaction from the whiskered boy before but to his shock, Naruto walked right past him and shuffled into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Unnerved (although he didn't let it show on his face), Sasuke returned to his bedroll and lied down with a frown never leaving his face. This day was turning out to be incredibly troublesome, his Sharingan eyes momentarily forgotten.

* * *

The large immobile man stared at the cloak-clad figure with open-mouthed shock. And since his mysterious benefactor had removed his facial bandages, his shark-like teeth were very much visible. Suddenly, Neko didn't think that this was such a good idea. He looked every bit of a psychopath.

An odd sound made him startle out of his reverie and shoot a suspicious look at his prisoner who was, to his surprise, _laughing_, the rusty chuckles leading him to believe that it had been a very long time since the man had truly laughed. It was not a pleasant sound.

"You want _me,_" he chuckled, a cynical grin twisting his lips, "to _promise_," he laughed outright, "to be _good_." He howled in amusement, his laughter making his sore body ache.

Neko waited patiently for the injured man's laughter to abate into titters of amusement, tears leaking out from the corners of the man's eyes. "Do you have any idea," he pushed out, "What I have _done?_" He said, looking at his captor with a wild grin.

"Yes." Neko replied, kneeling down and taking one of the muscled man's arms into his own, bending and rotating the appendage to make sure all the bones and joints had healed properly. While Momochi could certainly _feel_ the hands on his arms, he could not move them an inch.

"Then surely, you must know that you're on a fool's errand." He taunted the other man. As far as he was concerned, Haku was as good as dead and while he couldn't physically fight back against the leather-clad boy (he could determine from the pitch of his voice that his captor couldn't be older than someone in their adolescence), he would sure as hell make things difficult for him.

"How old are you anyway, shorty? Don't you think you're too young to try and play games with ninja, boy? I've been killing people in cold blood since you were in your diapers kid; you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. Now, be a good boy and let me _go_." He coloured his lasts words with a hint of KI but to his disappointment, the kid didn't look particularly phased.

"Oh, I don't want you to _be_ good, Momochi-san. Truthfully, after seeing some of the things that are in your head, I don't think I'll be able to sleep at night for quite some time." He commented, finishing up on the ninja's other arm. Shifting over, he grabbed the bound man's head and began to move it gently, feeling for anything that impeded movement and may need further healing.

Zabuza didn't see it that way. As far as he was concerned, the boy was readying to snap his neck if he didn't cooperate. If you added the little sentence that alluded to the boy being able to read minds… well, Zabuza was uneasy.

"So what do you want from me? - He ground out with clenched teeth, his muscles tense like coiled springs. "I…" The person faltered, letting the ninja's head drop down on the floor with a soft thud, only to hastily pick it back up. "I want you to _swear_ to me that you will not harm or kill Tazuna or anyone associated with him. This includes his family, friends and anyone working on the bridge. Basically, I want you to leave." He stated, jumping to his feet in a single motion.

"And _why_" Zabuza murmured with a smile, "Would I do _that?_" He asked. He had expected a lot of responses, generally along the lines of promising him pain and death if he didn't comply, but what he didn't expect was for the man to abruptly wave his long-sleeved arm at him, and the most peculiar sensation entered his limbs. He could only watch with horror as his hands, feet, his entire _body_ moved with perfect coordination on its own volition, causing him to stand up smoothly.

This was _nothing_ like the jerky movements associated with the puppeteer technique. His body (since he wasn't really in control of it) began to pace across the room, looking as if he'd never been injured in the first place, if a bit sore.

"Because you don't really have a choice. While I could never murder someone in cold blood like you can, Momochi-san, that doesn't mean I'll let you hurt my… associates. And you do have a lot to gain, however. Your health, your sword and your accomplice, for a start."

If possible, the ninja tensed even further, but Neko's words had clearly piqued his interest. "Go on..." He snarled.

* * *

The lukewarm water felt heavenly on his flushed face and Naruto begun to feel slightly silly for reacting to the dream as strongly as he had.. After all, he'd known that he had a demon sealed inside of him for quite a while and although it was a difficult concept to stomach, it hadn't really caused _nightmares_ before.

Perhaps it was because knowing something didn't necessarily mean understanding something until you've seen it. And the Kyuubi was not a pretty sight to behold. Just the malice in its eyes alone was terrifying, but knowing that he had more than enough power to act on that malice…

Or, he mused, shaking Kyuubi's blood-coloured eyes from his mind, maybe it had been because the fox had said that the fourth Hokage had been his father. His parentage had always been a sensitive topic for him. Had his desire to know who his parents were and his admiration for the man cause his brain to conjure up a scenario where it was so?

Naruto's train of thought was interrupted by the persistent tingling in his belly that had yet to abate despite not having any injuries or abrasions in that area. With an uncharacteristic frown on his face, Naruto yanked up his pyjama top and gazed down to his belly, only to stare at the swirling black mark around his bellybutton with fascinated horror.

His brain took very little time to connect the proverbial dots. _–Using chakra equals to visible seal. Visible seal but NOT using chakra means… -_the blond boy swallowed nervously. _– … That someone else is using chakra, that isn't me but shares my body_. - Not a lot of candidates for _that_ particular scenario.

Naruto felt his stomach drop. Had he… had he _really_ seen the fox, the Kyuubi no Kitsune? Was he inside of his mind, _talking_ to him? Overwhelmed, flushed and _scared_, Naruto raced out of the bathroom, as quietly as could, and fled into the dark woods surrounding the house that they were lodging in. He needed some fresh air and time to think.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke felt his eye twitch in irritation for his blond teammate. It was _very_ late and their usually nonchalant teacher had promised to have them up and running before dawn. Add to that his own recent excitement and his habit of sleeping in complete and utter silence when at home and he found his teammate's shuffling and water splashing incredibly annoying.

He wondered how their teacher could sleep through all of the noise. A glimpse at the man proved that he couldn't. Although he was completely still and his breathing was even and relatively shallow, akin to a man asleep, his one visible eye was open and seemed to be narrowed in a frown.

When Sasuke heard the bathroom door _slam_ open he was more than ready to let the blond boy have it but Naruto didn't stay and listen to his indignant rant – he raced out of the bathroom (admittedly much quieter than would have been expectant of him) and fled down the corridor and out of the house.

The dark-haired boy felt slightly miffed about being ignored like that (again) but couldn't ignore the tiny stab of worry he felt for his rival. This was so uncharacteristic of the blond boy who, despite being an utter _dobe,_ was someone that did give up or stay down, especially after he seemed perfectly fine after the attempted attack on Tazuna. Had something happened to the blond while he'd been in the _bathroom_?

Sasuke's uncertainty on whether he should confront the blond and chastise him from acting in such a manner or let him sort it out by himself was answered by his teacher who soundlessly slipped out of his bedroll and, with a glance at the raven-haired boy (who took it as an invitation), moved to the window and silently slipped into the night after the wayward blond.

* * *

**AN**: Wow, I seem to be on a roll here! And, just to clear up some confusions if I didn't come across the way I wanted to,

1. Kyuubi doesn't _like_ Wizards and they are _not _stronger than him, he just holds (some) respect for them as a nation/race. I don't think that JK Rowling ever gave Wizards real justice when doing the fight scenes. Can you imagine the _potenti_al_? _

2. I was trying to make a more approachable Kyuubi that could be sympathised with, but was still true to its destructive nature. He is NOT the good guy, but neither is he a bland "Evil just because" type. He has his reasons for acting the way he does, even if we don't like him. I think it's the ant hill analogy - any kid who claims never to have bothered ants "just because", has clearly never seen an ant hill. XD We're all tempted.

**Ndasuunye: **Oh, I agree completely. It's a _very _silly thing to do... which is why I made him do it. Neko's _not _a fighter (at least at this point) - he's never seen anyone dying or really injured before, especially not if he was the _cause _for it.

That's why he sort of panicked and grabbed Zabuza before Kakashi could come around because he knew that the ninja would probably execute the ninja-turned-mercenary. Silly... but very, very human. ;)

**salamnderzrock: **Oh... in what way? Can you elaborate? I don't mind changing it if there's something blatantly wrong with it but the paragraph seems fine... relatively.

**Frostius: **Thanks. ^.^ I think that it came out a bit disjointed but since I was in a rush to get _something _out…

**Ireadtoomuch: **Wow, that's a really nice thing to say! Thank you. I guess that since this is my brain baby, I can't help but feel hypersensitive when something doesn't feel right, even if I don't always know how to fix it.

**Elspeth**: All will be revealed! ^.^ I like Kyuubi, his age and mentality make him a very versatile character… but he's not the good guy. ;)

**TheIceCreamGeek**: Uh oh… for me or Neko? XD

**Kiseki no Tenshi**: Thanks. ;) I try, even if for the sake of practice. Fluidity's my main concern at the moment.

**Tariono4ka: **He likes to mess around sometimes. He does it when he's nervous, can't help himself. ;)

**Huitt1989**: Yes they do, and I'm trying to kick that habit of using "-": I have no idea where I've gotten it from. O.o

**Secret-sorrow**: Haku will make an appearance soon. Right now, he's suffering from a delusion of being a comb. O.o


	11. Chapter 12

~ Chapter 12 ~ Unpleasant Revelations for All!

* * *

Despite having sprinted the entire way from the house to the abandoned clearing, Naruto wasn't even _close _to being out of breath. With the adrenaline still cursing through his system, he felt twitchy, uneasy and desperate to calm himself down. He hadn't even noticed when he began to pace within the small clearing he'd recognised as the one he'd learnt to tree walk but when he did, Naruto didn't bother to stop – instead, he launched a punch at one of the massive trees that lined the dell.

Naruto's fist met the smooth bark of the tree with a satisfying thud and the boy relished in the dull ache that resulted in his knuckles from the impact. Now that his body had gone into the "fight or flight" mode, he felt the odd trembles leave his body as he launched kicks and punches with increasing speed and strength against the tree, although the bark seemed to withstand the onslaught with ease.

"The fox lied." He said through clenched teeth, ignoring the way the skin on his fists went from a healthy tan to an abused pink. "The fox lied to you and here you are, getting all worked up about it… you're _so_ stupid Naruto… just like everyone said you were." The punches were not easing up – angry red lines were forming on the skin of his knuckles and every time the limb came in contact with the smooth bark of the tree, he felt the bones in his hand creak in protest. Naruto didn't care though.

"It's not like the Sandaime would _lie_ to me about my own father." He snarled, growing frustrated with the tree that simply wouldn't _budge_. "Not like he'd _lie _to me about a bloody _demon_ living in me!" He yelled. "Don't worry your dumb blond head, _Naruto_. It's not really any of your _business, _Naruto!" His hands clenched at his side as he glared at the tree that had been stained an unsightly dark brown from the genin's blood-covered hands.

A sudden memory sparked within his mind about the last training he'd undergone with Team 7 involving chakra manipulation, so when he launched the next punch it glowed a faint blue from the masses of chakra being pumped into it. When the fist crashed into the bark he could feel the tree pulp give in under the force of his punch, splintering and coming apart with astonishing ease. It was _exhilarating_.

He launched himself at the poor tree trunk with renewed zest, chakra-induced attacks pummelling the tree without mercy. Splinters and bruises marred his hands and feet but the heady rush of power and his own anger made him oblivious to his injuries. They would disappear within an hour, anyway, thanks to the damned fox. Everything seemed to come back, one way or another, to the stupid fox… and the man who'd condemned him to be an unwilling jailor for the demon.

"He's _not_ my father." He snarled, ignoring the dampness in his eyes that were _not _tears, damn it but it was so hard. He had _always_ admired and glorified the Fourth Hokage as a child, dreaming to be like him and even _surpass_ him in terms of power and skill one day. To him, the man could do no wrong. The image was admittedly tarnished when he learnt of the demon sealed inside of him yet even then, though it was very hard, he had tried to understand and ultimately accept his status as a demon container. The man had done what he felt he had to in order to protect the village and Naruto was just an unfortunate victim of fate to be chosen on that day. It could have happened to anybody, as far as he had been concerned.

"He CAN'T be my father." He screamed, sending the battered tree falling to the ground with a muffled thud. Naruto didn't wait around to see it though. He was busy launching against another tree nearby. This… anger felt strange and alien to the usually chipper and bright boy but he couldn't deny that it had definite appeal, and at the moment – he was revelling in it. For once, he didn't _want _to be understanding and just "suck it up", didn't want to be the scapegoat and underdog anymore, with just the words "that's the way it is" or "life's unfair" aimed at him whenever he dared to complain.

"Why did he choose me?" He screamed, sending another tree trunk crashing down, tearing the lush canopy along with it. "Of all the people, why me? His own son, that bastard…" A strange roar escaped the blond boy's lips, very much akin to that of a beast._" Was this what hate feels like?" _The blond wondered taking deep ragged breaths and taking notice, for the first time, of the damage he'd wrought to the surrounding trees. He didn't… he didn't like this. He didn't like this terrible, dark and overwhelming feeling, despite the power it seemed to bring along with it. He couldn't live his life like this.

He didn't _want _to hate the man he admired so much, his own flesh and blood but he simply could not justify the Yondaime's actions, no matter how hard he tried. Naruto had always cherished the idea of a family – although he'd never had one, he considered anyone who'd given him a chance as a person not a demon as his precious people, his family. Several faces flashed just before his eyes at that thought – Iruka-sensei, the Sandaime, Konohamaru and his little posse of wannabe ninja…

So how could the Yellow Flash do this to him? Naruto wasn't the only child to be born around the 10th October; there were several other potential candidates for sealing as well! These children would have had _families _that could provide for them and hide their status as a jinchuuriki. Children who could have grown up without the label of "demon brat" hanging over their heads, ruining their prospects of ever having a life that wasn't wrought with conflict and strife.

He had always just assumed that he had no parents – it was less painful than thinking that they'd abandoned him, but he wondered if knowing the truth wasn't actually _worse_. Yet it was no excuse for keeping him in the dark! Why had the Sandaime _lied _to him, _again_? He could sort of understand why they wouldn't make his parentage public knowledge but why did they keep it from _him_?

Did the old man not understand what it would mean for an orphan to know who their family was, that they weren't just expandable trash? He'd certainly been called that before, and no matter how many times he'd been told to "ignore them, Naruto", it would never be anywhere near as reassuring to a parentless child than knowing who their parents were.

The anger that had seemed to slowly abate into moroseness at the though of his precious people knowingly kept secrets from him returned with a vengeance. A howl tore out of his throat and Naruto clenched his fists at the feeling of his chakra going out of control. Vicious claws sprang from his usually ragged and bitten fingernails, tearing into his palms while an ominous red glow surrounded his person, filling him with a pleasant _heat_. And while Naruto couldn't see his normally azure eyes bleed into a furious red, he could very much feel his already sharper-than-normal canines lengthen into considerable sized fangs and tear into his bottom lip.

_"What… what is _happening _to me?" _He wondered with clenched teeth, doing all he could to resist the urge to just tear up everything in sight, consequences be damned. _"Ky… Kyuubi?" _He wondered, curious if the demon could hear his questions. After all, who else could it be? It certainly wasn't _him _burning up all the plants in his vicinity. It seemed like the red chakra he was emitting was almost… poisonous to anyone but him.

"_Can you feel it… the delightful _**_rage_**_, boy?" _He heard a gravely voice echo through his mind. Suddenly apprehensive, Naruto tried to push the fox out of the forefront of his mind but the demon did not let up. _"Foolish child…can you not feel the power cursing through you? Would you really give this up?"_

"I'm _not_ listening to you, Kyuubi." Naruto yelled, clutching his ears with his clawed hands. A futile gesture, if you remembered that the voice came from _within _him. "You'll just trick me again, I know it. I _hate _you." He added for good measure.

The strange cloak of crimson chakra around him seemed to suddenly go into frenzy while load, feral laughter echoed through his mind. "_**You **hate _**_me_**_? Child, your puny mind will never even _**_begin _**_to comprehend the levels of hatred that _**_I _**_feel for _**_you_**. _You think that _**_this_**_ is anything special? Knocking over some trees? My power is unparalleled by anything that exists in this wretched world, and I will _**_not _**_be disregarded by a snot-faced child, shedding tears because people _**_lied _**_to him, and called him _**_names_**_."_

Furious, Naruto tried to form a retort but was interrupted once again by the solemn voice of his prisoner. _"You think that I would waste the precious time I have left to lie to an insignificant little whelp like yourself? Don't think so highly of yourself." _The Kyuubi growled in irritation. Maintaining even this much control over the boy was more difficult than it should have been, and he had precious little time to convince the boy to do what was needed for Kyuubi to stand a chance at meeting the mage.

_"Nevertheless, unkind fates have left me bound to you and I, no matter how much I loathe to do so, am willing to come… to an agreement." _The fox spat out the last part of the sentence like the words themselves made him ill to the bone.

"There's nothing that you have that I want, fox. You've _ruined _my life, everything bad that's ever happened to me has happened because of _you _attacking my village!" Naruto yelled out, trying to regain his wits and ultimately, calm down his odd chakra but he was nearly bawled over by the raw fury radiating from the entity housed in his being. And while Naruto was completely clueless to the shell-shocked figures of his teacher and teammate standing at the edge of the trees, Kyuubi felt their presence and knew he had to hurry if he was to be successful in his endeavour.

_"You stupid, selfish, arrogant little waste of air." _The Kyuubi roared. The odd flickers of chakra behind Naruto had begun to consolidate into a recognisable foxtail. _"Everything that has ever made you special among the race of man was because of me. Your levels of chakra, your speedy healing and imperviousness to pain… all because of _**_me_**_." _The demon screeched, furiously lashing from within his prison. _"What was that little technique you seemed so proud of… the shadow clone? You wouldn't even be able to make _**_one _**_if it wasn't for me, and I don't think it a secret that you're teacher considers it you're only real value as a ninja." _He taunted the boy.

_"I'm your only chance at ever reaching your pitiful, naïve dreams, _**_Naruto_**_." _Kyuubi snarled mockingly. _"On your own, you'd never make it to maturity, not with the war brewing on the horizon that will soon consume all you pathetic humans. You _**_need_**_ me to keep feeding you chakra, because those flashy human techniques that you so admire, the overpowered ones that don't require any actual skill will be all that you'll have going for you._"

"You _lie." _Naruto bellowed, feeling his own rage being fuelled by that of the demon. "If I die, you perish as well and I don't think that the _mighty _Kyuubi would want _that_." He snarled, unaware of Sasuke's face becoming increasingly paler by the minute while his grey-haired instructors fretted about having to… _subdue_ his own student. If Naruto didn't snap out of whatever the demon was doing to the boy, he'd have no other option. But so far, the boy seemed to be completely deaf to their calls and any attempts to approach them made the demonic chakra scorch their skin, forcing them to retreat. They could only count on Naruto's strong will and the Yondaime's skill in seals to carry the blond boy through and keep the Kyuubi at bay.

_"Boy, I'll die regardless of whether you die from your ineptitude or from you stealing my chakra." _It growled. _"But what I offer you is power and _**_knowledge_**_ that will truly set you apart from your peers, including the thrice-damned Uchiha boy." _He snarled. _"You've already made it thus far from my handouts, boy." _The fox murmured, his voice becoming unnervingly soft.

_"Why not take it a step further? Or do you _**_like _**_it when retarded humans make your life living hell, knowing that the "demon brat" would never retaliate, far too brainwashed by a scheming Hokage to anything but grin and bear it like an obedient little _**_weapon_**_. You do know that that is the only reason you were allowed to live in the first place, don't you?_ _If they killed you as an infant, they'd have been ridden of me forever and you've seen how much they hate me. But they kept you, because with me inside an obedient little tool, they can use _**_you _**_to lord _**_me_**_ over the other ninja villages."_

Kyuubi was really laying it on thick but for what he was planning to work, he _had _to convince the boy to relinquish his control, even if it was a strictly temporary affair. And Naruto _was_ beginning to falter, his hold on his humanity beginning to slip due to a mixture of his own rampant emotions, the wild chakra and the fox's words that were sugared poison to the boy's vulnerable mind.

He _didn't _need the fox to help him… did he? Iruka-sensei seemed to believe in his potential to become a great ninja at the very least, as did the Hokage… even if his trust in the Sandaime had taken a bit of a blow recently. _"You have the most powerful demon in the world residing in you." _The demon whispered with surprising softness for a creature so large. _"Greatness is the _**_least _**_you can achieve."_

_"But I can take you beyond great. There will be _**_no one _**_in the world who would dare to belittle you or ignore you in favour of another." _Now, that wasn't strictly true but the little chibi didn't' need to know that. _"All I ask is an hour." _The Kyuubi coaxed, pumping more chakra into the seal and causing Naruto's humanity to slip away while a second chakra tail began to form behind the subdued blonde. _"An hour of freedom… it's all I ask. In exchange for the world at your feet._" Had Naruto been slightly clearer-minded he would have been frightened by how good an actor the chakra spirit really was, but for the time being, Naruto was eating straight out of Kyuubi's claws.

_"All those arrogant children who snubbed you? They'd be clambering all over each other for a chance to be your friend. You'd be truly special… more special than your rival could ever be._" Now, the rival with the Sharingan eyes could prove to be very much a thorn in Kyuubi's furred backside so it would be a good idea to get rid of him before the Uchiha learned of the power their cursed eyes had over the demon. However, he couldn't suggest outright killing him for the sentimental weakling would just try to fight him on that. _"Can you imagine the look on his face when you beat him with astonishing ease? The look on that jounin's face when he realises that _**_you _**_were the one that was destined for greatness, not him?" _Kyuubi felt disturbingly like a vixen trying to coax one of its cubs back into the den, except the situation at hand held far more at stake.

_"You may hate me and curse me and deny me all you want, Naruto." The fox cajoled. "But I'm the _only _one that has never lied to you. I hate you Uzumaki Naruto, but I don't have to lie to you to hurt you." _Kyuubi was really getting into the whole charade by now. No wonder the humans did it, lying and deception was _fun_!

_"An hour… and it's all yours." _He murmured, while really in his mind he thought, _"An hour kid, and you're all _**_mine._**_" _The boy continued to struggle pitifully for several moments and the Kyuubi readied himself to launch another argument when the delighted fox felt the boy slowly, with great hesitation, relinquish control over their shared body. As it was, it took all of Kyuubi's self control not to howl in triumph. Everything would be as it should be; it was only a matter of time now.

* * *

Once again, Sasuke felt like cursing his blond-haired idiot of a teammate. _Why _did the dobe have to get an emotional breakdown in the middle of the night in such rough terrain? It was pitch black outside, with the tiny sliver of the moon barely providing any light at all, and he felt like cursing every time his foot caught in a branch or his clothes became entangled in the thorny vines that seemed to spring out of nowhere. Even his prized Sharingan eyes were useless in the pitch dark, only causing him to deplete chakra unnecessarily.

What made the situation worse was the seeming ease with which his instructor navigated the dense foliage in the dark, never making a sound or faltering from his path. It seemed like the man knew exactly where he was going. Sasuke opened his mouth to make a scathing comment about Naruto's suspicious night time hobbies when the man abruptly stopped and held up his hand in the universal "shush" sign, gazing intently into the darkness. Sasuke tensed in apprehension while his hand grazed the fold of the weapons pack that he carried on him always, even when sleeping but the teenage boy couldn't sense anything even vaguely threatening coming their way.

The silver-haired shinobi obviously felt differently, judging by his tense frame. To the Uchiha boy's annoyance, the man rushed into the undergrowth without warning or explanation. _"Naruto, you had better be in trouble or I'll _**_put _**_you in some." _He snarled in his minds, trying to keep up to his teacher yet feeling a sliver of apprehension worm up his spine. Naruto hadn't run in to any hostile forces, had he? Team 7 and the user of those weird jutsu may have forced Zabuza to retreat _(again_) but it didn't mean that Gatou was willing to back down anytime soon and the man seemed to have as many henchmen as a dirty dog had fleas. Cursing, the Uchiha sped up and took to the trees, stretching his sense as much as possible in the pitch-black darkness.

* * *

If there was one man capable of making him regret ever coming to the Elemental Countries, it was Momochi Zabuza. He was absolutely, undeniably, extravagantly, unbelievably _infuriating. _While Neko had always felt like a pacifist at heart, the idea of socking the smug, arrogant, paranoid shinobi in the face made him want to _purr_.

"I'll repeat it, _again_, Zabuza. I know you have the attention span and egocentrism of a five-year-old _monkey_, but _try _to pay attention." He snarled, flexing his fingers and _almost _wishing that he still had his claws. Ruining some furniture would have been heavenly right about now.

"_**You**,_" He bit out, waving exaggeratedly at the direction of the smirking ninja. **"**Owe me your life. Which means that _you,_" He pointed straight between Zabuza's eyes. "Have a rather limited number of options at the moment." The ninja, who'd begun to go cross-eyed in an effort to keep the Wizard's hands in sight started to smirk again.

"It's been an hour, you bloody baboon. Don't even try to pretend like you didn't catch _any _of that." He cried out with exasperation. Needless to say, all his composure and manners had long flown out of the window. If he didn't think himself above such petty behaviour, he would have used magic long ago to do more than just restrain the man.

"Oh no, Neko_-chan_, I caught quite a lot of it actually." He smirked while looking far too comfortable for someone whose bottom was quite literally glued to the chair. Magic truly had no limits. "Let's see if I've gotten this right… You're basically a _magician_ that travelled through _time _to come to this world and have _magically _managed to make me into your _slave _by helping me when I neither wanted or asked for your help." He finished, baring his sharpened teeth in a parody of a smile. "Was there anything that I missed?"

"Space." Neko replied, momentarily throwing the grinning man for a loop. "What?" Neko rolled his eyes. "Not time, space. They are two very much separate concepts, Zabuza. If you'd listened in school, you probably would have known that." The ninja had opened his mouth to retort that he'd been far too busy at school learning how to effectively maim people to listen to science-fiction bullcrap but Neko didn't allow him to speak.

"In the end, it is all very simple. Magic, unlike chakra, has a certain level of awareness, intelligence if you prefer, that chakra lacks. This means that among my people there are rules that _must _be followed, otherwise I run the risk of losing my magic, my soul or my life." He lectured, crossing his arms over his chest. While he was very much placing himself at risk by telling the rugged ninja so much about magic, it was vital that the muscle head understood _exactly _what he'd done when he'd tried to take out Tazuna by attacking Neko first.

"One of the most prominent and important aspects of _ambient_ or passive magic, as it is sometimes called, is the idea of equal exchange and balance. And at the moment, you Zabuza owe me a _lot_. You attacked me and you tried to kill my charge – as far as my magic was concerned, your life was fair game." He stated, boring into the ninja's eyes that were serious for once, taking in his words. "However, in my world, killing is considered unnatural and even though I have severed all ties with my old home, my beliefs and my magic are still very closely tied to it.

Neko gave a tired and irritated sigh, peering into the low wooden ceiling of his tent. "When I hid you from the Konoha ninja and healed your injuries – they were fatal, by the way you ungrateful prick – the unbalance between what I've done and what you owe become so great that frankly, Zabuza, I don't think my magic will let you _leave_ until you've returned your debt.

"And before you go and spout more half-brained accusations at me, I didn't _intend_ for this to happen." He snarled. If he were in his animagus form right now, his tail would've been going crazy behind his back. "I just wanted to patch you up and then extract an Unbreakable Vow from you to stay away from Tazuna. As you're someone without magic or the ability to wield it, it would have been laughingly simple too. My kind doesn't tend to favour yours so your consent wasn't a factor." He snorted bitterly.

"But you can't exactly _patch up _a broken spine, can you? The effort that I put in just to keep you from kicking the bucket while I tried to rewire all those fiddly nerves…" He moaned, shuddering at the memory. It was awfully clear that a medic he was _not_. If it weren't for detailed step-by-step instructions that he had found in an emergency aid book, the man would have been a vegetable in everything but his mind. "But it didn't work. I couldn't command my magic to bind you to your word." Neko stated, dropping his hands in exasperation.

"I couldn't force you… because you're _already _forced, don't you understand? We're stuck with each other! And even if you tell your little henchmen," Zabuza gritted his teeth at the mention of Haku. He had yet to see neither hide nor hair from the boy "- to off me while I wasn't looking, you wouldn't be able to. If he tried to hurt me, you'd kill him yourself. Even if you'd rather die, the magic won't let you. _That's _how powerful a life debt is! To you people, it might be nothing more than just chivalrous nonsense from days gone by, but for me, it's very much real."

He started throwing his hands up in the air with frustration. "You've pretty much mucked things up beyond repair for me, _Momochi_. How am I going to explain this to Tazuna, to Inari… to Team 7? I can't even _leave _because no matter where I go, I'll have an international _criminal _trailing behind me. It's not how it was supposed to go!" He wailed, dropping his hands beside him.

Zabuza was getting _mad_. "Frankly, I don't really give a shit about your little problems." He stated coldly, clenching his fists. "I consider this entire _mess _your problem to deal with, or it would've done if I had, even for a second, believes this crap that you've been spewing at me. Kudos for effort though, you've clearly been practicing but now it's time for you to let me _go_, before I _make_ you let me go." Although the ninja had been wary of the adolescent before (as he'd never seen any techniques that came even close to what the kid was doing) but he had had enough. The boy had become and obstacle, and he had several ways of dealing with obstacles. Terminate, dispose, "take care of" – take your pick, they all ended the exactly same way.

Neko had gone curiously silent and still, although his hooded features remained completely obscure. Zabuza, although in a clearly disadvantaged state felt pretty confident that he could take on the babbling madman. He also felt curiously energised, as if he had electricity dancing across his skin. _"Must be the adrenaline." _He thought but had to quickly reverse the thought when one of the half-empty cups of tea on the table exploded for no real reason, sending shards of porcelain spraying cleanly across the room. Then another cup went the same way, then one more, then the pot – until anything that could break did so and went shooting across the room, while a mini whirlwind had begun to pick up – indoors – sending anything that wasn't overly heavy flying across the room. An oddly bound book ricochet from Zabuza's skull and he cursed the bump that would surely result but Neko still didn't move a move a muscle or say a word, ignoring the odd phenomenon. Was he… _causing _this?

"Make?" He questioned in that oddly soft voice that left no room for doubt that the boy was angry. Good, because Zabuza was too. Maybe finally they would come to an understanding now that they were on the same page. "You still think that _you _can make…? Stand up." He ordered abruptly and Zabuza felt his own body _jump _to comply with the order. Gritting his teeth, he glared at the boy with all his might but he stared right back at him, those disconcerting yellow eyes boring into him.

"Let's take it outside, shall we?" He ordered briskly, turning on his heel and walking towards the wooden stairs that seemed to lead outside. _"So we're underground then." _Zabuza mused although not for long. When the boy had disappeared from sight, an odd tug at his naval compelled him to follow him, regardless of his efforts to do otherwise.

It was a futile effort. The two males were standing outside, starring at each other with clear contempt. Even though it was very late into the night and the moon barely cast any light on them, he could still see the leather-clad figure clearly. Both man and boy stood completely still until the smaller one did something surprising. He drew up one of his sleeves, revealing a small hand holding… a stick? _"Of course it's a stick." _Zabuza thought sarcastically, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. _"I'm lucky that he didn't pull out a _spoon _or a toilet brush." _

It did become quite a bit weirder for as soon, as the boy performed an odd slashing gesture with the wooden instrument, he saw his own cherished sword appear from thin air, flying at him and seeming to be completely unscathed. Surprised but quick-footed as any ninja should be, he dodged the hurled projectile, only to realise that it wasn't meant to be an attack – the sword hung by him, completely still. The boy was _giving _him his sword back. What sort of games was he playing?

"This _stick_, while not the source, is the means of my power. It channels and focuses my strength in a way that avoids doing harm to my person. Without it, I'm near powerless." Neko stated, anger still marring his tone. "While I can do minor manipulations without it, I am reliant on it for every single technique that I've used on you." He stated, only to throw the damn thing away into the darkness.

Zabuza gaped at him, but nonetheless picked up his sword. He didn't think that the familiarity of the weapon could be so soothing. He startled into a fighting stance when the boy, Neko, began to slowly unwind his leather cloak and shrugging it off behind him, standing only in his shirt in the cool night.

Zabuza felt oddly disappointed, the kid was so… _ordinary_. Admittedly, his features looked rather foreign but other than that… he was just a scrawny teenaged boy. "What are you waiting for?" Neko yelled, startling Zabuza out of his thoughts. What _was _he doing? He had the perfect change to off the little bastard who'd kidnapped him! And still, he felt oddly… reluctant to do so.

Somehow, his gut instinct told him to be wary. "I'm the one who nearly crippled you, Zabuza. I took your sword, I kidnapped your companion and I'm standing here, completely unprotected. So try. _Try _to hurt me. _Prove _me wrong. Remember, without my channel I cannot use any of my magic against you. I'm as easy a target as you'll ever get. Try it."

He did, he really did but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't take those few steps in the dark and kill the boy. It wasn't a _physical _restraint like before when the boy had glued him to the furniture, it was _him_ who was doing the stalling.

Whenever he tried to summon the strength to just walk over there and do the deed he was filled with the oddest feelings of dread, despair and nausea that made his knees tremble. In the end, he did what he'd never done before. He dropped his sword on the ground beside him, grudgingly admitting that he couldn't do what the boy had all but _invited _him to do.

"Fine." He murmured, refusing to look at the stony face of the teenager. This situation needed a whole lot of thinking through.

* * *

**AN**: Hi there! After being hit with a dart full of inspiration, I've been churning out pages like I don't have University coursework to do! I've probably left a whole lot of unedited grammar mistakes but I've been yearning to get the thing out and done with. If you notice any disrepencies with the sequence of events or just grammar mistakes, please let me know! Otherwise you'll end up laughing at my abysmal language while I think that I'm absolutely awesome at "splng theengs wright".

Just would like to take the time to thank _everyone _who read this story and/or left a review. You made me smile. ^.^

**salamanderzrock: **Thank you. ^.^

**TheIceCreamGeek****: **Technically, Neko _has _a name although he gave it away and as such, it doesn't mean anything to him anymore. But there _may _come a time (hinthint) in the future where he'll need it.

**Ungodlyone****: **Thanks! I like it myself, faults notwithstanding. XD

**Ireadtoomuch: **It should be on its way. XD


	12. Chapter 13

~ Chapter 13 ~ The Boy That Cried "Fox"

* * *

Sasuke discovered quite early on that running along the canopy of a forest wasn't quite as easy as the older ninja in Konoha made it look. For one, the trees in Wave (probably due to their proximity to water and high levels of rainfall) were often covered in slippery moss and lichens that were an absolute pain to get a good grip on, even with chakra enhanced limbs.

However (despite what Naruto might say) he wasn't considered a prodigy for nothing and soon enough, Sasuke had managed to work out the levels of chakra necessary to give him a solid enough grip on the trees and to propel him from branch to branch without overshooting or coming up short from his target.

Mind you, having copy-wheel eyes that could see your own chakra output was a great help and soon enough, he was _almost_ keeping up with his teacher that, for all that his appearance stood out in the light of day, was an absolute pain to keep track of in the dark. And Sasuke _still _didn't understand what they were looking for. Naruto would be the obvious answer, but how did their teacher know where the boy had gone? And how could the whiskered boy have gone so fast that they were yet to catch up to him, despite having followed him immediately after he left the house?

His silver-haired instructor was still resolutely heading in the same direction that they had started out on and from little the Uchiha could work out from the surroundings, they were heading towards the clearing where Team 7 had _finally _learned something of interest from their lazy teacher. _"__Sort__ of__ makes __sense__ that__ Naruto__ would__ go__ somewhere __familiar__ but __distanced __if __he__ was __upset_." Sasuke grudgingly admitted, feeling somewhat peeved that he hadn't thought of it himself.

"_But __what __could __have __set __the __blond __dobe __off __that __badly?__" _He wondered, watching out for the older ninja who had disappeared from sight again. Suddenly, the dark-haired boy felt an odd sensation at the edge of his senses that nearly caused the poor boy to almost vault clear off a 30ft tree in his surprise.

Although the sensation was very faint and he'd barely noticed it without his bloodline limit activated, it felt… _wrong_. It felt tainted, dark and poisonous and what was worse, it seemed to come from the same direction he and Kakashi-sensei had been heading in for the last few minutes. In other words, where they thought Naruto to be.

Un unexplainable fear gripped the Uchiha, and not the kind he had expected. Despite his obvious misgivings towards the source of the vile chakra, he sped off after their teacher, praying to whatever deity was in charge of this messed up world that Naruto wasn't dead.

* * *

Despite the very much obvious demonstration of the predicament he was in, Momochi Zabuza still found himself slightly sceptical about this "life debt" he was supposed to owe to Neko. However, without knowing more about the situation and getting himself in a more even footing with the odd teenager, he would have to play nice. _"__Which__ means__ that__ I__'__m __royally__ f***ed.__" _He thought sullenly, shouldering his massive sword with ease that didn't seem to match the size of his weapon.

"So, what now?" He asked the boy who had once again shrouded himself within the confines of his cloak and was now _petting_ his wooden sti… wand that he had so exaggeratedly thrown away before. Zabuza frowned, not recalling the boy ever going looking for it. Had the boy kept it all along?

"Well, I'm kind of surprised that you haven't asked about… Haku, was it? … Who's still unconscious in the tent. Some friend you are." Neko snorted, heading towards a tent that stood near the edge of the clearing. Zabuza frowned at that. Where had the house gone? He couldn't see the entrance anywhere and he could admit to not having paid attention to where he was going when they had left it.

"He's not my friend." He said brusquely but left it at that. He didn't want another argument with the… _wizard_… who'd just disappeared within the confines of the small tent. "Well, aren't you coming?" Came the impatient voice of the teenager, popping his head out of the gaudy-brown tent. Zabuza felt his non-existent eyebrows raise in ire. "Unlike you, I don't have the physique of a 13-year-old girl." He smirked at the 'evil eye' he got for his efforts. "I'm not going to fit in there."

"You'll fit your big dumb head just fine. Come on." The latter sentence must have been made in the form of an order because Zabuza, despite his misgivings, moved towards the tent. To his surprise, when he lifted the flap he saw wooden stairs leading underground to the small and oddly furnished basement.

"Huh. Clever." He grudgingly admitted. Just before stepping inside, however, he was overcome by a sudden, overwhelming curiosity and he quickly popped out again. While the wizard seemed busy downstairs, mumbling something incomprehensible and shuffling through some sort of bag, Zabuza carefully slid his hand under the canvas floor of the tent. To his surprise, he could slip his whole hand underneath.

Now _very_ curious, the rogue ninja turned his hand so that his palm faced upwards and carefully lifted the tent upwards, expecting to meet resistance from the foundations of the building any moment. But there was none and soon, Zabuza felt his eyes almost pop right out of their sockets at the sight of the smooth if slightly disturbed grass underneath the tent, which was just that… a tent.

"Hey, stop doing that – you knocked over my teapot!" Came the irate voice of the Wizard and Momochi promptly let the tent drop back down (eliciting another shout/yelp from the boy) and quickly entered the tent, albeit with a lot more doubts than before. Who _was _this person?

* * *

The closer they came to the clearing the more pronounced the sick feeling in the air became. It was like killing intent, only much more potent, malicious and _sick_. Sasuke seriously doubted that any human being could be the cause for such chakra, malevolent and hateful.

An odd, orange-red glow could be made out in the distance and Sasuke felt a mixture of relief and apprehension – relief because they were finally getting somewhere and he could begin to see his surroundings somewhat clearly but also apprehension because even from the distance they were at he found the chakra to be nigh unbearable.

However, gritting his teeth he stubbornly pushed forwards until he saw the still, tense form of his teacher standing on the edge of the clearing, illuminated by the red glow.

"_Why __isn__'__t__ he __helping __Naruto? __Is __it __too __late?__" _Sasuke thought, landing next to his teacher and doubling over in an effort to keep his laboured breathing under control, shivering at the feel of the vile chakra licking across his skin. However, when he lifted his eyes he felt all the blood drain from his face.

There stood Naruto – his loudmouth, dead-last, always cheerful teammate, encased in a whirl of hateful red chakra and screaming incomprehensible nonsense while laying waste to gargantuan trees as if they were training posts back at the Academy.

Although the boy never stood still for long, Sasuke could not forget the sight of the inhuman claws that had sprouted from his teammate's fingertips and the vicious fangs that he sported. However, what shocked him the most were the scarlet red eyes with the slit pupils stood out like a mockery of Naruto's cheerful blue eyes.

""If I die, you perish as well and I don't think that the _mighty _Kyuubi would want _that_." Naruto yelled while the chakra around him began to consolidate into a shape that was unnervingly similar to that of a tail… a foxtail, to be exact. _"__The__ Kyuubi__ no__ Kitsune.__" _Sasuke thought, shell-shocked. Could it really be…?

While all common sense dictated otherwise (after all, the Yondaime's supposed defeat of the demon was taught in every classroom in Konoha) it… it would explain so _much_. It would explain the masses of chakra, the speedy healing, and the odd whisker-like marks on his cheeks despite not being a part of the clan.

Most of all, it would also explain the hostility he had faced from the villagers of Konoha. At first, Sasuke had been content to believe that the hostility was just a result of Naruto's annoying personality and tendency to pull stupid pranks, but he'd never stopped to think that "demon brat" was a bit too harsh a word, even if an individual _was _beyond annoying.

Sasuke swallowed and forced himself to take a step forward only to have his shoulder caught in a firm but surprisingly gentle grip. "No, Sasuke." The masked man murmured. "Naruto isn't… he isn't himself right now." He'd never seen the usually nonchalant man so grim-looking. Was the beast breaking loose? But why _now_ of all times? Why _here_?

"Naruto, snap out of it!" He shouted but to his annoyance (and secret relief), his blond teammate didn't seem to hear him at all and continued to scream and curse the Kyuubi while there was so much flame-like chakra shrouding the boy that he looked like he was standing in the middle of a bonfire.

"_It__ feels__ like __it__ too.__" _Sasuke thought grimly, taking a step back and shielding himself behind a large tree. They weren't particularly _near_ to Naruto yet the dark-haired boy still felt like his skin was irritated and lightly burnt from the demonic chakra.

"We may have to knock him out, Sasuke. That's the only way we can stop the demon from influencing his mind." Kakashi-sensei murmured, using his grip on the boys shoulder to make him retreat some more after something Naruto said seemed to enrage the Kyuubi into flooding the clearing with killing intent and chakra that could be likened to molten lava.

"How?" He asked incredulously. They couldn't even stand to look at Naruto anymore, the bright haze from the chakra proving too much for their sensitive eyes. "The Kyuubi can't go free, Sasuke." Kakashi murmured, his voice dull and flat. It was as if the older man wasn't really speaking but playing a pre-recorded message. "This is above me, yourself… or even Naruto." He said, feeling the 12-year-old's shoulders stiffen at the implication.

"You have no idea what that monster can do." He deadpanned, slowly releasing Sasuke as if afraid that the boy would do something rash and stupid if he let go but the Uchiha remained silent and still.

"So what, you're going to kill him? Kill Naruto?" He snarled, clenching his fists. "No, Sasuke. It is absolutely the last resort should we fail at subduing him, but there's always Naruto's stubbornness and the Yondaime's genius in seals to consider, so don't give up hope yet. He'll come through."

* * *

After entering the domain of the wizard for the second time, Zabuza felt much more apprehensive. He couldn't help but imagine a scenario where the jutsu that made the tiny tent into a decent-sized apartment _failed_, in which case he'd probably be squished beyond recognition by all the odd junk that the Wizard seemed to have squirreled away in the various cabinets and trunks in the room.

The wizard seemed to be immersed with something on the floor and completely ignored the ninja's presence so he took the time to properly look at the odd little basement that he'd woken up in. Of course, as a bloody good ninja, Zabuza had immediately taken note of everything that could be used as a weapon and/or means of an escape, but he hadn't really _looked _at the room as a whole now that it was decently lighted.

It was clearly foreign, Zabuza admitted. While far from knowledgeable on the subject of interior design, expensive houses tended to be bright, airy and light with minimum clutter. This room, however, was dark and far too mixed-up with large, heavy pieces of furniture. _"__Clearly__ expensive __though_." He thought, eyeing the detailed carvings on the arms of the sofa. The wood was such a dark red that unless light shone directly on to it, it appeared to be black.

Zabuza was wrenched from his inspection by frenzied coughs coming from the middle of the room. He whirled around, secretly cursing the wizard for taking all of his weapons, when he noticed Haku lying on the floor, coughing and rubbing his throat. He ignored the urge to check if the boy was unharmed and instead, stood impassive and still, glaring at the back of the Wizard who was helping the boy to stand. _"__Haku__'__s__ taller__ than__ him.__" _He thought with grim satisfaction.

"You don't really have any substantial injuries – apart from the bump on your head – but judging from the bruises on your neck you probably had a run-in with some debris when I… well, you know." The Wizard babbled, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that Haku was still wearing his hunter-nin mask or that the boy (often mistaken for a girl) had yet to stay a word. Instead, the young ninja was staring intently at Zabuza. When the large man gave a tiny hint of a nod at the restless adolescent, he relaxed somewhat and allowed the Wizard near his neck with that odd stick of his.

The older-looking teen made a small noise of surprise when the pain and tight feeling in his neck all but disappeared without the other boy so much as touching him. _"__Is __he __a__ medic? __He__ does __not __appear __to__ be__ a __ninja, __though.__" _He thought, glancing once more at Zabuza to ascertain that the man was uninjured. Thankfully, the man seemed to be in perfect health if in a somewhat disgruntled mood. _"__Back __to __normal__ then._" He smiled behind his mask.

Haku was no fool – he instantly recognised the boy as the one who'd stood by the bridge builder's side when he and Zabuza had tried to ambush the man. So why was he helping them? Surely they were supposed to be enemies. _"__Maybe __he__ doesn__'__t __like __to __kill __people __either.__" _He thought wistfully. Zabuza had never really appreciated that part of him, although he'd gotten less vocal about it as years went by.

"I need to talk to him." Zabuza demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Alone." He added when the Wizard just looked at him like he was crazy. "Common sense says no." The wizard said slowly, standing up from the crouch he was in before. "However, since you still seem to suffer the foolish delusion… ah, what the hell… talk to him all you want. I'll go make myself some tea." He murmured, wandering into his small but comfy kitchen a.k.a. the room of mystery. Apart from tea, he really was quite a hopeless cook. No matter what muggle-born wizards said, cooking was _nothing_ like potion brewing. Cooking was definitely much harder.

Although he couldn't hear anything that was going on in his living room/study, he was certain that Zabuza was instructing his young subordinate to do something incredibly foolish. _"__It__ better __not__ bite__ me__ or__ anyone__ else__ in__ the__ arse,__ Momochi._" He thought, relishing in the familiar motion of stirring his three spoonfuls of sugar into the dark liquid. When he entered his living room, making sure to shuffle unnecessarily loudly on the wooden floor, he entered to find the slender young teen gone and Zabuza sitting on his couch, trying to appear innocent (and looking ridiculous as a result).

"You're an idiot." Neko stated, sitting next to the man (who stiffened in surprise) and blowing gently on the surface of his drink. It wouldn't do to burn his tongue. "And why do you say that?" The ninja asked, shooting a look of barely disguised disdain at the wizard, too proud to stand up (and thus proving himself _inferior_ to the man) and too short of space to scoot away from him despite how uncomfortable he felt due to the younger man's proximity.

"_Clearly, __someone __doesn__'__t__ take __criticism __well.__" _Neko thought with a smile. Before and during the confrontation with Zabuza he had felt increasingly like a balloon – tense and ready to blow up at any moment but now – he felt _calm_. Either he had been in a desperate need for some release from all the anger and frustration he had been suppressing, or he'd finally gone mad. Either way – he felt _good_, and no amount of worrying was going to take it away from him.

"Do you really think that you would somehow be released from your debt if I die from someone else's hands?" Neko asked, initially amused but growing annoyed when the Mist ninja began to release KI in his living room.

"Stay out of my head." The ninja _growled_, looking at him with eyes ablaze with fury. "You can use your freaky arts on me as much as you want but _stay __out __of__ my__ head_." He yelled, jerking away from the wizard and beginning to pace within the small living area. "You have _no _right," He began but the wizard quickly cut him off.

"First of all, I _didn__'__t _read your mind that time, so you just incriminated yourself for no reason." The wizard stated calmly, setting the teacup down on the coffee table. "Second of all, even though there is _no _reason why I should agree to this, I… I'll keep out of your mind." He admitted, looking straight into the dark-haired ninja's eyes. "However, if you ever give me _any_ reason to believe that you're trying to screw me over…" He snarled, feeling anger creep into his being.

He quickly shook his head, trying to dispel the negative feeling from his mind. He would feel _good _and _calm_, and this thick-headed _lout_ would not spoil his chances at a life he had more or less fought for over a century. He would be _serene__… _

"So, how much will I get paid? I hope you don't expect to take an elite ninja out of the job circuit without suitable compensation." Neko felt his teeth clench and his hands clench into trembling fists.

"_Good,__ calm__ and__ serene.__" _He snarled, forcing himself to _not _whip out his wand and start breaking furniture and ninja alike.

* * *

Sasuke was still staring at his grim-faced sensei, hands and teeth clenched in anger and frustration at the situation, at himself, at the dobe… _how _could things get so ridiculously complicated in a single _night?_Just a few hours ago he had been sitting in a warm kitchen, being fed a delicious meal by a pretty woman who's tired but warm features had reminded him so much of…

But now, he was standing in a middle of a forest with his teammate being consumed by a demon while his teacher was telling him that he might have to kill the blond boy for "security" reasons. _Fuck _security reasons! His family had been slaughtered like animals while the village couldn't stop a single man from… and now it wanted to take his teammate too? What game was the man playing at?

The fact that their instructor didn't seem particularly keen on the idea did nothing to quell Sasuke's rage. Here was the man who had been preaching teamwork left, right and centre and now he was…

Angrily, the Uchiha turned away from the man only to be stopped by a strong hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look back at Kakashi-sensei. In the darkness illuminated only by the feral chakra of the demon, the man seemed to have piled several decades onto his shoulders, his face haunted and grim.

"Sasuke… would Naruto want to be the tool of a demon, hell-bent on destroying us for _entertainment_?" He whispered, releasing the boy's shoulder with a sigh. Although far from reassured, Sasuke refrained from making any more comments and chose to look at Naruto instead, despite the burning in his eyes.

So when the infernal chakra dissipated as if cut by a knife and Naruto slumped down onto his knees, Sasuke didn't hesitate. He had crossed the clearing in a blink of an eye, ignoring his instructor's alarmed shout and crouched down by the trembling body of the blonde whose face was hidden by the boy's tanned hands. "Are you alright? Look at me!" Sasuke demanded, frantically grabbing the blond boy's tanned hands and pulling them apart so he could look his friend and teammate in the eyes. "Naruto?"

What he saw instead though were blood-red eyes, slit like those of a snake but so much more malicious, crinkled in an insane grin that showed off unnaturally sharp teeth. Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat.

"Wrong, Uchiha scum." The creature said in a hissing snarl, its voice high-pitched and rough. It's clawed hand shot forward with incredible speed and the only thing Sasuke managed to do was close his eyes before splatters of warm blood drenched his face.

* * *

**AN:**Cliff-hanger! Oh no! (These are kind of fun, actually). Sorry for making the chapter so short, but this seemed like the best place to stop for now, otherwise it would make little sense when I start the next one.

Not too much action here but it should definitely start with the next chapter when things begin to make a little sense and the action begins to pick up.

Thanks to anyone who's read and/or reviewed this story. You guys are awesome. ^.^

**salamanderzrock: **Thank you. ^.^ It means that I'm on my way to combating my rival - grammar.

**King****Lune**: Crap, are you sure? O.o Well, in any case… ta da! XD I hope you enjoy it, even if it's a bit short.

**Hedwigfan**: Zabuza sure as hell doesn't like it though. XD He's not the type of person to be forced to do anything he doesn't want to do. This is _personal_. ^.^

**Kiseki****no****Tenshi:**Thanks! I endeavour to please. ^.^ The story should pick up pretty soon and there will be some actual plot development! XD

**Huitt1989**: Kyuubi's fun to write because he's so "evil". ^.^ Thanks!

**Reader-anonymous**: Wow. O.o This is a _big_review but I'll try to reply as I go through.

It's the Land of Waves, nice enough country but no magic!

He can hide his paw prints by magic! Useful, unless you're followed by suspicious ninja with their sharp noses.

They'd have to _find_ his tent first. ~.^

Yup, it's a patronus. He couldn't do one before he came to the Elemental countries.

Everyone likes to be impulsive once in a while. ;)

I like Kakashi too, even if Neko wants to poke him.

Nope. Neko is a mage among shinobi, and he's going to stay that way. Professional pride and whatnot.

Kyuubi doesn't really like wizards – he just hates them a little less, and he thinks that Neko can be useful to him.

Things are definitely going to get hectic soon. ^.^


	13. Chapter 14

~ Chapter 14 ~ Where Egos are Hurt

* * *

Kyuubi could positively _howl_ in irritation, and he very nearly did so, gnashing his jaws together to keep his silence. It wouldn't do to get caught when he was so near the completion of his plan, so instead the fox demon yanked his blood-soaked claw from the flank of the Konoha ninja and sent the trembling Uchiha spawn a heated glare full of malice.

It had been going so well for the cantankerous fox. Perfect, even. He had been finally free from his jailor's (feeble) mind and in an absolutely brilliant stroke of luck, confronted with a helpless little descendent of the man he hated most in the world and a ninja from the village he despised.

Unfortunately, pressed for time and battling the will of the exuberant blonde (who'd come to realise rather quickly that something was amiss), Kyuubi could only really strike out at one of them before fleeing - and the blow had to be fatal as every second he spent dawdling in the clearing meant less time to find and confront the wizard.

The older ninja had been the logical choice – with the _competent_ ninja out of the way, the little runt would be all but helpless and in no position to confront the fox, therefore leaving Kyuubi free to go wizard-hunting as he pleased. Yes, it was the best course of action and the ancient fox knew it.

Yet when the black-furred human spawn came practically _running _to him, all reason fled the demon's mind. Euphoria caused by his (temporary) freedom and hatred for the Uchiha won over any and all reason and he had gleefully struck out with his clawed hands, intending to disembowel his prey.

Only to be intercepted by the damn jounin. Although undoubtedly fast, the Kyuubi was outpaced by the silver-haired man with rather embarrassing ease. However, Kyuubi thought with a demented smirk that looked markedly out of place on the blond boy's cute face, he had also vastly underestimated the power of the fox.

If the man had tried to just push the little runt out of the way, he just might have escaped unscathed. As it was, the silver-haired ninja had tried to restrain the fox by grabbing his fist, but had been very much unprepared by the force of the blow.

Although he hadn't managed to eviscerate the man, the fox had been able to take a fair-sized chunk out of the ninja's side. The older man had dropped heavily on his knees before him, weakly attempting to stem the blood flow with his hands but only managing to stain his gloves with blood that was flowing freely from the shredded flesh.

Although far from the lethal strike the demon had intended, the ninja would undoubtedly bleed to death while the Uchiha stood still as a statue, eyes still closed and face splattered with the blood of his teacher.

"_All__ things __considered, __not __too __bad __of __an __outcome.__"_ Kyuubi thought with a wild grin as he dropped on all fours and disappeared into the forest. The jounin-level ninja was incapacitated and left to suffer while the loathsome spawn of Uchiha trembled before him and watched his teacher die. Yes, very nice indeed.

The (now blond) fox stuck its nose in the air and took a few deep breaths. A faint scent, barely distinguishable, filtered through the Kyuubi's hypersensitive nose and he prowled through the forest that surrounded the village of Water. The smell was foreign (something akin to dusty fur and fragrant leaves) but he knew the source of the smell and that was all that mattered. The mage was close, tantalisingly so. Oh, it was only a matter of time before the Kyuubi no Kitsune would reign over this pathetic world again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Uchiha Sasuke could do little more than stand and breathe. Blinking, thinking, even wiping the sweat off his brow was far above him at the moment. When those demented eyes, the colour of a world burning locked onto his own, he had been frozen into place with fear he had never known before.

This was nothing like the rush of adrenaline he had experienced when fighting the Demon of the Mist, or even the sliver of fear he had felt when looking for his missing friend. This was instantaneous dread that felt like he'd been dosed from head to toe in a bucketful of icy water.

So this was how it was going to end - in a small, unidentified clearing far from home, killed by an ancient demon wielding his frien… comrade like a weapon while he'd achieved none of the things he had set out to do. He had barely managed to close his eyes when the demon had lunged, spraying something hot and slick all over his face and body.

He had expected many things – pain, burning, at least a light at the end of the tunnel - yet strangely enough, he felt nothing. At least, nothing out of the ordinary. Was he dead? Had he passed on already? The dark-haired boy cautiously opened his eyes while pupils dilating in an effort to see something in the darkness that had settled in absence of the demonic chakra.

The sight of his instructor, with his side almost completely torn open, made the young boy gape in astonishment. _"__He__… __he __took__ the__ hit __for__ me.__"_ He thought in astonishment, still unable to move from shock but for a different reason. Although he'd heard the man claim that he wouldn't let anyone from his team die, it hadn't really hit home at the time, especially since jounin instructors were expected to look out for their teams anyway. Seeing it, though…

When the demon (with a last look of disdain aimed in their direction) disappeared in the darkness of the forest, the genin forced himself out of his stupor and rushed to his teacher's side. He felt vaguely nauseas from a mixture of guilt, worry and an inkling of fear. He _hated _that feeling – he had promised himself never to feel that way again as it implied _feeling_ and _attachment_ when he wanted none.

The jounin's breathing was incredibly heavy and laboured while his hands were cramped onto the massive wound, doing little to slow the plentiful flow of blood. The usually cool, calm and composed (when not around Naruto) genin found himself slightly at odds with what he was supposed to say or do.

Do you say thank you? Pretend it didn't happen? Apologise? He was completely out of his depth – but once again, he wasn't considered a genius for nothing. The boy decided that the "emotional crap" could wait and decided to do something about that wound.

Whipping out his kunai, the boy quickly cut the jounin's vest and shirt to free the wound and stop the clotting blood from "gluing" the fabric to the lesion in the skin.

From what the genin could see while the wound was incredibly messy and probably hurt like nobody's business, it didn't seem _too_ deep. If anything, no major organs looked to be hurt and while the man was pale and looked to be in a great deal of pain, he should be fine… as long as he received some medical care. And there was only one person he knew that could treat wounds similarly to a medic-nin, even if he was incredibly suspicious.

The genin swiftly whipped off his pyjama top (barely noticing the cold in his rush) and pressed it to the wound, binding it tightly with bandages he had liberated from the jounin. "Can you walk?" He asked, sliding off the puffy-collared vest from the injured ninja and pressing it over his own small shirt that had already turned crimson from blood.

After a brief hesitation, the older man nodded and shakily stood up while trying to keep his wounded side as still as possible. He was surprised when the Uchiha prodigy silently steadied the man and willingly helped him leave the clearing as quickly as possible but kept his silence. Teenagers were embarrassed when you mentioned the "emotional crap".

* * *

"I'm not paying you squat! Why should I?" The old wizard raged, glaring at the smirking ninja. "It's not like you've _earned_ it, you… you… inconvenient lout! Get a job!"

"Oh, that reminds me – I already _am _on a job – one that I am yet to complete because a complete nutcase kidnapped me." The ninja replied, sprawled over his couch as if he owned it. "So if you've done trying to brainwash me with your hippie idealism, I would appreciate it if you let me be – I do have to earn a living you know."

"First of all – you look creepy when you try to act innocent. Stop it. Second of all – what is that bastard paying you, anyway?" The wizard asked. When the ninja (after a long period of "deliberation") called out a number, the wizard just blinked.

"Is that a lot?" He asked, trying to wrap his head around the sum. While the number _did _seem large, it didn't necessarily mean anything, especially since the muggle currency here didn't seem to have a larger "form" for it – unlike the British pound sterling that had the pence, the dollar that had the cent and so on and so forth.

It did seem to be a fair amount, though, judging by the way Zabuza was looking at the wizard as if he' had dropped his trousers in the middle of the living room. "Yes. Yes it's a lot of money. _Big_ number." He said slowly. The pair sat in silence, each musing on the intellectual shortcomings of the other when Neko decided to try again.

"How much is a ryo?" He asked the bandaged man, who shot him an irritated look. "A ryo," The ninja said, pausing for dramatic effect, "is worth… one ryo. That's what it's worth. That's what it _is._ What else could it be?" The wizard let out a long, drawn out and irritated sigh, just to let the ninja know what the 'teenager' thought of him.

"No, you belligerent, dim-witted baboon – I meant, what is it _worth_? What is its purchasing power? In other words, if I had a ryo on me right now – what could I buy with it?" He ranted while the ninja scratched his chin.

"Honestly? Not a lot. If you're annoying, you could probably haggle yourself an arse kicking though. I'll do it for a ryo." He said with a shark-like smile. "Interested?"

The wizard didn't seem to be listening to him though, instead opting to stare at his own wall with glassy eyes before snapping out of his stupor and fixing it on the ninja who suddenly didn't seem so comfortable anymore. The boy wasn't blinking anymore, just _looking_ at him. It was unsettling.

"Hypothetically speaking… if I had some gold I felt like selling… how much could I potentially get for it? A kilogram, for example." The brown-haired youth asked, only to jump back in fright when the seemingly nonplussed, uninterested ninja _leaped_ across the room and was now (rather unerringly) invading his personal space.

"Gold? You've got _gold?_A _kilogram_ of gold? Is that it, I mean, is that all you have or do you have more? Where is it? Is it melted down or are we talking jewellery here? Can I see it?"

The wizard could only blink owlishly at the obviously excited man. _"__Huh.__So__ I__ guess__ gold __is__ valuable__ here __too.__ I__ guess__ that__'__s__ a__ relief__… __as __long__ as __I__ can__ manage__ to__ keep __certain __morally-defunct __ninja __out__ of __my __stash.__" _

* * *

The Kyuubi prowled, stalked and flitted about in the thick, dark underbrush of the forest while tracking the scent of the illusive wizard whose scent seemed to be _everywhere _he went - _but_ without any set pattern or frequency to it. There just didn't seem to be one set location that the wizard seemed to frequent more than others, apart from the squalid human infestation that the people called a 'village'.

In his search, Kyuubi had meandered near the unfinished bridge where the scent seemed to be thicker than most elsewhere and paused for a short rest. Although the fox spirit would never admit it, he was beginning to feel a little tired, even though he enjoyed his night time hunt immensely. When you were the size of a _proper_ demon, like him, and brought chaos and destruction with you wherever you went, there wasn't much opportunity for one to appreciate the smell of grass and the trees and all those little bunnies that just begged to be eaten…

The fox frustrated fox had begun to entertain the idea of entering the pathetic settlement and searching (read: levelling) the house that the blond idiot and his team were staying in, when a dark imprint on the ground caught the fox's eye. Crouching down, the demon examined the mark on the ground closely – it was very faded, clearly more than several days old but had clearly been made by a large animal at great speed, judging by how far the claws seemed to have penetrated into the ground.

However, what made the fox grin with malicious glee was the scent – it was that of dust, leather and cat fur and what's more, it was _recent_. A glance further up the path revealed another footprint, then another – all the way into the forest, leading away from the village. The crimson-eyed fox cackled with glee, following the prints with canine-like fascination. He was _close__… _

* * *

Haruno Sakura jolted out of her dream with a start, clutching at her throat while her chest heaved with laboured breaths. It had been a dream… just a silly dream, the girl comforted herself, turning on her side and wrapping the blanket more securely around herself.

An admittedly strange dream, she mused despite her attempts to relax her mind. Although she couldn't, for the life of her, remember what it was _about_, she could remember that it had started pleasantly enough, but had, at the end, quickly and brutally turned sour. She couldn't remember _why _that was though, or what had happened to make it so.

"_Weird, __hormonal__ teenage__ dreams.__" _She thought with a smile. _"__I__'__ll__ be__ flying __in __them __next.__" _She had calmed herself and nearly succumbed to slumber once again when the sound of heavy footsteps entering the silent, still house made her rise from the futon, adrenaline beginning to curse through her.

With quick, light footsteps the girl jumped out of her bed and crept out of her bed, rummaging through her bag as quietly as possible for a kunai. She barely contained a sound of triumph that threatened to escape her when her hand settled around the familiar hilt of the weapon and she slipped out of her room into the hallway.

The screech of a chair and a noisy thud made the blood stop momentarily in her veins. Quickly gathering up her courage, she slipped into the room where the boys were staying for the night. However, a glance inside told her rather quickly that they were all gone, their beds clearly slept in but empty.

Squishing down an irrational feeling of hurt for being left behind by the males in Team 7, Sakura slipped back out in the hallway and down the narrow staircase, having a good inkling as to who was making the noise in the kitchen.

As she entered the small, cosy (but strangely unlit room) she was well and ready to give them an earful about leaving in the middle of the night (and not taking her with them) when she noticed three things.

One of them, of course, was a shirtless Sasuke. However, the little mental happy dance was quickly squashed when she also (eventually) noticed the blood-soaked clothes pressed to Kakashi-sensei's side (explaining the lack of shirt on the Uchiha) and the fact that that there _wasn__'__t_ a loud, obnoxious, yellow-haired boy with them.

"Where's Naruto?" She asked the silent pair, who gave each other rather uneasy looks.

* * *

Showing Zabuza the gold might have been a rather big mistake on his part, Neko mused. It had been half an hour and he had yet to be successful in prying the larger man from the small pile of golden coins scattered on the coffee table. While by no means a _sizeable _portion of his wealth, the ninja was still clearly smitten with the gleaming discs of shiny metal.

As someone who'd never wanted for anything (material, that is), he found it hard to identify with people's obsession with money and saw gold as nothing more than shiny pieces of metal with imaginary value. However, he was at least smart enough to know that not everyone was as lucky as he had been in that sense.

"If you agree to lay off Tazuna and stop working for that cretin Gatou, I'll let you keep it." He said conversationally, smiling in glee when he noticed how stiff the man's shoulder's had become.

"It's against the ninja code to leave a mission unfulfilled for a _bribe._" The scarred ninja said stiffly, not sparing a glance at the disappointed wizard. However, when the yellow-eyed teen made to sweep the gold back into the small leather bag he kept his gold in, the ninja swept out his massive arm and caught the wizard's wrist in a strong grip. "So I guess it's a good thing that I don't give a shit about the stupid code. You've got yourself a deal."

* * *

"_Closer,__ closer,__ closer,__ closer__…__.__" _The Kyuubi chanted, little more than a flicker in the darkness of the forest. The scent of the wizard was _everywhere_, and he could even taste the dissipating magic in the surrounding air. He was _close;_ undoubtedly the man (the fox was certain it was a man) must have his camp somewhere nearby.

Using the stars as his guides, the fox kept heading in the direction of the scent… until he began to feel himself going off course, walking in circles. This was exactly what the fox had been looking for. Wards. _Magic_ wards. The wizard was certainly nearby. Now he only had to coax him out…

* * *

He was on his umpteenth cup of tea when he felt it – a faint brush of magic across his senses, warning him of an intruder.

The 'teenage' wizard had opted to escape the bandaged nin in the living room who was carefully counting and testing the coins to see if they were real, all the while muttering something under his breath and _giggling_ of all things.

So, thoroughly unnerved, the brunet escaped into his small kitchen for a late night/early morning snack when he felt the wards trigger. And it wasn't just a _brush_ against the wards anymore – whoever it was, they knew where he was and were trying to _break__ in._

In a panic, he nearly dropped his teacup into the sink (cracking the delicate porcelain in the process) and rushed into the living room, where the dark-haired ninja jumped, clearly startled, and _hugged_ the pile of gold to himself protectively.

Without a word, the wizard pointed the linden wand at the suddenly apprehensive ninja and a bright flash of silver escaped the tip of the wooden instrument. The ninja dropped the gold (clearly, survival instincts ran deeper than greed) and tried to roll out of the way but the motion came far too late.

Before his very eyes, the silver-enveloped ninja began to shrink rapidly until Zabuza's once impressive form disappeared over the edge of the table. Holstering his wand, the wizard frowned.

Neko was found out; that was certain and the wards were no longer sufficient to keep his location unknown. He _could _relocate without ever leaving the confines of the wards, leaving his intruder none the wiser... but he chose not to.

If there was even a _chance_ that there was someone capable of wielding magic out there, other than himself… he had to _know_.

Unfortunately, that's where Zabuza became a major problem. He doubted that wizards looked at rogue ninja any more kindly than 'regular' ones did, and for all that he didn't like the block-headed nincompoop, he didn't want him executed or his memories erased either.

And (unfortunately for Zabuza) one of the safest ways of rendering a person unrecognisable was human transfiguration – and the only transfiguration he knew that didn't involve the flighty nin having to stand still was the spell used to identify one's soul animal before animagus training.

Although in a bit of a hurry (he felt the wards resonate against his being every time the intruder tried to pass the boundaries), he found himself curious as what he would find when he looked under the table. The man's personality was obnoxious, but also shrewd and laid-back and _annoying_. _"__I__ bet__ it__'__s__ a__ crocodile.__ It __would__ fit __him,__ the __bastard.__" _He thought, carefully ducking down and peering under the coffee table.

He found himself staring, wide eyed and still, while the small dark-furred creature tittered around unsteadily on four shaking paws. _"__Holy__ crap__… __look__ how__ cute__ he__ is!__"_

The small mammal, no bigger than a lap-dog, had a stocky body covered with bristly black fur (not unlike that of a miniature bear) and small, if sharp, claws. However, its most endearing feature was its head. Rounded features, large ears, big button eyes and a pink muzzle, Zabuza had it all.

"What the hell?" He asked out loud, feeling somewhat miffed at being proven so drastically wrong in his assessment of the ninja. The man wasn't anything _like_ the little mini-bear cute thing! This was absurd!

Unfortunately, the wizard would have been wise if he had kept his verbal outburst to himself. The animal-Zabuza (who had been clearly disoriented from the change in height and anatomy) had snapped out of the daze he had been in and _stared_ at the wizard… with little black button eyes. Feeling (despite his common sense) somewhat less hostile towards the aggravating ninja, the wizard crouched down so the man wouldn't have to crane his neck so to look at him.

"Hey, listen…" He started, suddenly feeling a little bad about being so liberal on the ninja's person when it came to magic. However, he didn't have a chance to finish. The cute little pink-muzzled miniature bear opened its jaws nearly _180_ degrees and let out the most horrific banshee screech the poor wizard ever had the misfortune to hear.

Taken aback, the wizard tried to scramble up to a standing position but he was too slow. With a howl of pure fury (that just seemed _unnatural_, coming from such a small body) Zabuza launched himself forward and snapped his teeth shut around the wizard's ankle with a force that was akin to that of a bear trap.

"_Of__ course.__" _The wizard thought with a touch of hysteria, lying on the floor and trying desperately to kick the ninja in the face with his other foot. _"__Tasmanian__ devil.__ How fitting__.__" _

* * *

I'm ALIVE! It's chapter the 14th, in all its rushed, typo-d and _short _glory. However, I felt that if I didn't get _something _out, I wouldn't get out anything at all.

I want to say a big thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited etc. You guys make me smile like a moron. ^.^

I know this chapter came out a little chaotic - it has drama, guts, fuzzy animals... so let me know what you think! My biggest concern was keeping Kyuubi in character, as he'll be a major anti-hero in this plot, against his own will. XD So, once again, let me know. Especially regarding plot-holes and stuff that doesn't make sense.

**Reader-anonymous**: But they ARE fun! ;) They're great for starting up the next bit, even though they sometimes manage to sit on the laptop for a fair amount of time... *whistle*

**Tariono4ka**: Thanks! Although ninja will figure heavily in this story (its their world, after all), Neko is a wizard first and foremost. Plus, with a grumpy Zabuza as a (very unwilling) bodyguard, he doesn't _need _shinobi skills! Plot device right there!

**salamanderzrock**: Thank you! I haven't had much practice with them, but then again, they really _are _fun. ;) But not as fun as poking fun at serious macho characters! That's why I love the guy so much...


	14. Chapter 15

~ Chapter 15 ~ Where Kyuubi no Yoko Tries to be Nice

* * *

After several agonising seconds (that felt like _eons _to the poor wizard), Neko finally managed to kick the enraged little animal off his person and teleported with a whip-like crack to the top of his wardrobe, not giving Zabuza a change to gather his wits about him and attack again.

"_Stop _it, Zabuza! Bad! _Bad _ninja!" He called out furiously, clinging precariously on top of the wooden cabinet while all the time ignoring the burning pain in his left calf where the ninja had latched on with his razor-sharp teeth.

The ninja in question, who was busy rubbing his aching nose with awkward movements of his paw, did _not _care for that tone of voice at all. The man-turned-marsupial showed exactly what he thought of the situation by screeching and scratching furiously at the doors of the wardrobe, clearly displaying his wish to be turned _back _into a human.

"_This wouldn't be happening if Haku was here." _The Demon of the Mist cursed in his mind. He'd begun to seriously regret ordering the teenager away so soon, leaving himself at the mercy of the crackpot teenager who didn't seem to have any respect for the jounin-level ninja _at all_.

The wizard (who'd since numbed the pain and healed the laceration on his leg) frowned in irritation. In his opinion, Zabuza was being a big baby about the entire situation and since the mysterious intruder was _not _letting up on their assault on the wards, the sensation was, to be honest, nauseating. All in all, it would seem that a budding headache would be inevitable for the poor wizard.

So, finally fed-up with being bossed around by what appeared to be a ferret on steroids, the wizard snapped his wand and conjured a muzzle on the surprised ninja's face.

Zabuza promptly jumped back in fright and was now staring (cross-eyed) at the leather contraption that had materialised on his face, looking utterly perplexed at first and completely furious when he realised what the wizard had had the nerve to go on and do.

Meanwhile, the magic-wielder in question quickly scampered off his wardrobe and scooped up the (surprisingly) hefty animal while the ninja was still frozen from sheer disbelief. Without the benefit of having the most powerful jaws (in proportion to its size) in the animal kingdom, Zabuza could only glower at the teenage wizard with his little button eyes.

"You… are a _moron_." Neko growled at the snarling ninja. "I'm _hiding _you – someone's found us and there's a chance that they… well, never mind. Just be quiet, look domesticated and you'll get your money soon enough." He said briskly, putting the hefty animal back down.

"If you promise not to bite, I'll take the gag off your face." He said, twirling his wand in his fingers. Looking _extremely _reluctant, Zabuza nodded and sighed in relief when the constricting leather contraption disappeared from his head, freeing his mouth and nose.

Zabuza felt that his resolve _not _to bite was severely tested when the wizard gave him an annoyingly cheerful, obviously fake little smile and told him that they were going up to "meet the guests". Clearly, the wizard was still bearing a grudge about the fact that the ninja had nearly taken a clean chunk out of the teenager's leg.

Snorting in irritation, Zabuza followed the retreating form of the wizard with relative ease, having grown somewhat accustomed to moving about on four legs rather than two. However, navigating stairs was a whole different matter altogether.

It was ridiculously _hard_ when you're legs were this short and stumpy! Zabuza didn't like the feeling of being so… _clumsy _and why did _he_ have to come at all? Wouldn't it be better if he hid somewhere while the wizard dealt with the intruder (and hopefully got killed in the process)?

Nevertheless, the man-turned-beast reluctantly scampered after the disappearing wizard and remerged into the nighttime forest, his now unusually sensitive senses assaulted by various smells and sounds he had previously been unaware of. The feeling was akin to a thick woollen scarf having been unwrapped from his head, freeing his senses for the first time.

However, the sight that greeted him upon emerging from the tent-house was less than pleasant and removed all thoughts about the pleasantly cool night from Zabuza's head. Instead, only one word coursed through the experienced ninja's mind.

"_Shit." _

* * *

Kyuubi felt his temper grow exponentially the longer he spent pounding away at the magical defences. They were so frustratingly _weak _in comparison to what he could remember of his past encounters with wizards…

And yet he could not break through them. In his current form, the way he was now… he was simply too weak. And if the wizard had yet to answer to his attempts at intrusion then chances were that the wizard had left, before or after the arrival of the blond fox demon.

With a furious howl, the fox gave one more demonic chakra-laced punch at the shimmering barrier separating him from his goal, all his efforts seemingly for naught… Or so he had thought, at least.

"Who are you?" He heard a cool voice from behind him. With a triumphant grin, the fox whirled around in glee… only to be confronted by a teenage _brat _with a mutated lap dog in his arms. Certainly not the aged wizard he had expected to meet.

At least the mutant dog had the good sense to look scared in his presence. Kyuubi couldn't resist baring his teeth at the odd creature, eliciting a satisfactory fear response from the pathetic animal. The wizard, however, seemed indifferent to the display.

"Where's Naruto?" The boy persisted, his stick –wand? - trained at the demon. The fox mused that this was probably the boy's channel. The wizards _he'd _seen had always used large, impressive looking staffs that often exceeded the height of their wielders, so this little wand looked almost… comical, in comparison.

However, Kyuubi was not foolish enough to dismiss any magic-wielding weapon as not dangerous, no matter how ridiculous they may have looked to the fox. So instead, the fox demon gave the pubescent human a wild-fanged grin, its scarred face twisting in a grotesque parody of Naruto's own sunny smiles.

"What are you talking about?" He crooned, twisting his head sideways in a mockingly innocent fashion, almost like a bird. "I _am _Naruto, Wizard-san. Can't you tell?" He asked with a clearly mocking tone. The Kyuubi bent his knees slightly – in preparation to do a sweeping circle around the mismatched pair of boy and animal – when several sparks erupted from the tip of the wand that the wizard was holding, clearly in warning.

The purple sparks fell to the grand like small ambers and caused hissing wisps of acrid smoke to rise to the air while the grass shrivelled and shrunk away from the clearly deadly piece of magic. The Kyuubi froze but inwardly he was cackling with glee. So the boy wasn't as inept as he'd originally feared...

Outwardly, he widened his demented eyes so that the blood-coloured, slitted irises were clearly visible and tilted his head once more, giving another fanged grin. "You're not going to _attack _me, Wizard-san?" He said, minutely flexing his claws and licking his parched lips. "You wouldn't _hurt _me, would ya'?"

"I'll ask once again." The wizard said with deathly calm, the effect ruined by the desperately squirming animal in his arms who nearly caught his lip with one of its claws. "Who. Are. You?"

* * *

Zabuza thought that he had never felt so frustrated, weak and unlucky in his entire life. He was helpless, trapped and stuck with the only man in the Hidden Countries who didn't seem to recognise Kyuubi no Yoko when he saw it.

The creature (who had clearly taken control over his unfortunate blond host) did nothing but stand in the darkness, crouched down in a pose that seemed utterly unnatural for a human… and grinned.

"What makes you think I'm _not _Naruto? That I'm not the _real _Naruto, that is? Surely you don't expect a ninja to be perfectly _honest _in the way they act? The way they speak?" The creature crooned at the wizard.

Despite the adrenaline cursing through his veins, Zabuza was still clear-headed enough to think about the situation at hand… and find it extremely odd. _Why _was the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox and the most powerful of the tailed beasts, standing there and _talking_ to the Wizard? Why had he attacked the protections that the Wizard had set up? Why look for Neko at all?

"You might be Naruto's flesh and bone." The wizard said, awkwardly placing the heavy ninja-turned-animal under his left arm in order to keep his wand arm free and steady. "But you sure as hell are _not _Naruto. Who _are _you? And how do you know I'm a Wizard? I certainly don't recall telling anyone in the Hidden Countries about my origins. How could you tell?" The wizard asked, honest curiosity seeping into his voice.

Zabuza had the very unfortunate feeling that Neko didn't really understand the severity of the situation that they were in. After all, if what the Wizard had said was true and he was not from the Hidden Countries… he wouldn't have heard of the tailed beasts, now would he?

The Mist ninja could only stay still (in order to _not_ distract the wizard should it come to a fight) and hope for an incredible bout of luck, an event that was unprecedented in his relatively short but eventful life. Momochi Zabuza was _not _a lucky man.

* * *

"Ooooh…" Said the wolf in sheepskin, its smirk turning into a full-blown Cheshire grin. "You've… never heard of me, have you, young wizard? You have absolutely _no _idea who I am, do you?" It taunted, obviously amused but still rooted in its place in order to not provoke another show of magic. Still, he seemed positively _delighted_ at the revelation, even if he didn't wait for the wizard's confirmation to what the demon thought he already knew.

"You're not from around here, are you? I bet you're a _very _long way from home." It hummed with mock sympathy, gazing at the Wizard, feeling (minutely) annoyed that he couldn't see the wizard's face and eyes because of that blasted hood that he wore.

"You're _all _alone here… aren't you? Among weaklings and murderers, I'd imagine." The demon murmured, taking a slow and cautious step forward. When no defensive, angry magic followed, the demon barely suppressed a laugh of triumph and took another, more confident step towards the still form of the magician.

"No one here has any idea who you are and what you can do… and you can't _tell _them now can you, because the ignorant fools here would never let you be." It spoke with a hushed tone, its voice still loud enough to carry clearly through the small clearing. "Not with your _talents_…" Slowly putting one bare (clawed) foot in front of the other, the demon slowly made his way to the wizard.

"They would rather take you apart… lock you up… _steal _your abilities… then ever let you go." The creature was now almost nose-to-nose with the cloaked wizard who'd lowered his wand until the slender piece of wood disappeared into the wide sleeves of the coat. The odd animal that the boy was holding was still as a statue, only a slight trembling across its flank showing that the animal was still alive and breathing.

"All alone… so very alone…" The demon murmured, gently raising his clawed hand until the tips of his fingers grazed against the edge of the leather hood that concealed the boy's features. "You should be above such things…." He crooned, pushing the chestnut leather off the wizard's face. When the hood was almost off (persuasion worked best with eye contact, after all), the demon fox stopped suddenly, rooted in place with its claw grasping the edge of the leather.

Because against his throat, feeling very sharp and very _hot_, was something that the demon readily identified as a wand. "Thank you." The wizard said, gently applying more pressure and causing the scowling fox demon to take a step back.

"That's a very nice thing to say. _The _nicest thing, to be honest, brown-nosing notwithstanding. Nevertheless, I would like my initial questions answered before we can move on to other topics. So, once again… Who are you; where is Naruto and how did you know I was a Wizard? How did you find me?"

* * *

Kyuubi tried to hide how bloody annoyed he felt at that moment. He had seemed to be so close to his objective of persuading the wizard, to convincing him, to get him under the demon's thumb… but all was not lost, however. The boy may not be _easily _convinced, but he was still a mere child going up against someone with more than a thousand-years worth of experience…

"Who I am and how do I know of you is insignificant minutiae. It does not matter." The Kyuubi growled, abandoning the softer, more coaxing tone he had adopted in favour of his usual gruff tone. "What matters is that you can help me… and I can help you. I offer you a mutually beneficial trade-off. A tit for tat, so to say… _veneficus_*."

The Kyuubi felt a thrill of satisfaction go through him when he saw the wizard give a clear start when the demon had let the clearly foreign term roll off his tongue. It had been so long since Kyuubi had last heard the word but it had been seared into his memory to this very day… the name that the Wizards of old had given to themselves, when they had still inhabited the Hidden Nations.

Feeling that he had the advantage, Kyuubi pressed on. "I _know _you're not from around here, young wizard. Only a fool or a foreigner would not know who _I _am. Even your ugly dog knows to fear me." He said with just a _touch _of smug pride, ignoring the way that the said animal twitched at the comment.

"What does it matter, if you know who I am? Unless, of course, you're planning to blackmail me?" The wizard asked, not once lowering his wand or relinquishing his grip on the animal. After more than a cursory glance, it appeared to be more like a small bear than the dog Kyuubi had initially assumed it to be, although the demon didn't bear it much thought.

No, the demon was far too concerned with orchestrating the results he desired. This conversation could make or break his entire future, after all. If only the wizard wasn't so damn suspicious of him… sometimes, being impressive and awe-inspiring was a real curse.

"Oh, but it _does _matter, young wizard. You see… I know for a fact that you are not of this world… _and_ that you have yet to make contact with anyone of your own kind when you came here." He pressed on. "But you would _like _to, wouldn't you? Surely you don't want to spend your life among these dregs, hiding like a criminal when you've done no wrong?

"Are you suggesting that there are _Wizards_ here?" Neko asked. His tone of voice was disbelieving but Kyuubi felt (with a hint of smugness) that there was also a note of _hopefulness_ in there that he could definitely exploit.

"I'm saying that there is a Wizarding settlement in the Hidden Countries, yes. And…" He paused with a demented grin, "I know where it is." The demon could see (despite the blasted hood) that the wizard was _thinking_, his wand slowly lowering from its previous position of being pointed at Kyuubi's head.

"So, let me recap… just for clarity's sake." The wizard murmured, rubbing his head through the leather cap in a show of weariness. "You know that I'm an 'alien' Wizard."

"Yes."

"You say that there are other wizards here… a settlement of sorts?"

"Yes."

"You know where it is? How to get there?"

"Yes."

"… Can you tell me?"

Now, the demon (fully confident that he had caught the Wizard's interest) gave him a mockingly cheerful little smile and chirped (as much as a demon could chirp)…

"No."

The wizard seemed to startle at this. "…No? You can't tell me? Or you _won't_?" He asked with suspicion. The demon, in a moment of inspiration, answered with a quick lie.

"Both. I know where the village is… but I can't tell you, the magic won't let the words pass through my lips." The Kyuubi said, feeling a little relieved (though he would never admit it) that the Wizard seemed to find this believable, as he was nodding his head and murmuring something along the lines of "makes sense", "paranoid bastards" or even "bugger all", Kyuubi, even with his sharp hearing, couldn't tell.

"Of course, even if I _could _tell you, I wouldn't. Not for free, anyway." The demon cooed. "Which is why I said that I wanted a _trade_, Wizard. I will _show_ you where to find the settlement of your kin… in return for _my _freedom."

* * *

Zabuza felt dread slither down his spine at the sugared words that dripped out of the demon's mouth. The ninja had a good feeling that he _knew _what the nine-tailed fox was angling for, dangling the knowledge of Neko's kin in front of the wizard's proverbial nose.

Although Zabuza had never truly _believed _the nine-tailed demon to be dead (despite what Konoha might have preached to the world) he had nevertheless considered the monster to be… neutralised. Sealed away. _Gone_.

However, the prospect of the creature being free once more… free to do as it wished… Zabuza knew that in the state that Kyuubi was in now, he had no choice but to barter and manipulate to get what it wanted. He was _weak_.

However, as a fox the size of a small _village_, there would be nothing and no-one that it would have to reckon with. It would literally have full-reigns of the world, unless another seals-master came along, willing and able to seal the damn beast away, possibly at the cost of their own life.

Although somewhat grateful for the fact that his… fuzzy appearance made him insignificant in the eyes of the demon, he desperately wished he had a way to communicate, send a message to the wizard. Although far from altruistic and severely lacking in moral fibre, having the bloody demon loose (and so near Hidden Mist) would be catastrophic for _anyone_.

* * *

Sakura didn't know what the hell was on that weapon that caused sensei's injury, but whatever it had been, it was an utter pain to treat. They had, with their minimalist medical equipment, wrapped and disinfected the wound the best they could but it was clearly putting the man in a _lot _of discomfort, even if his life wasn't in immediate danger.

Furthermore, neither sensei or Sasuke would tell her where Naruto was, or what had attacked them! Although they didn't seem to keep their silence out of any spite for her, it was still hurtful that they wouldn't include her when things had gone downhill. She felt like she was someone who had simply tagged along with them, rather than being an integral part of the mission.

And although she didn't say it out loud, she was concerned for Naruto. Although she may not have particularly liked the loud, brash boy, that didn't mean she wanted him hurt or missing. And if whatever could hurt _sensei_ was out there… what chance did Naruto, the dead last of the class, could hope to have?

Fortunately, Inari had disturbed her worried musing by entering the kitchen not long after, sleepy and pissy, and demanded to know why the ninja couldn't be asleep and _quiet _like everyone else. However, at seeing the bloody bandage wrapped around Kakashi's side and the pale, worried faces gathered around his family's kitchen, the small boy gave a quiet groan and retreated back into the silent house.

Surprisingly, he came back soon after with something clenched in his hand that he deposited in a bemused Sakura's palm. It was… a key-chain. A _tacky _key-chain to boot. The girl was honestly at a loss with what she was supposed to do with it. She certainly wasn't going to put _her _keys on something that bore the image of a purple kitten with an orange bow around its neck, frolicking in a field of what appeared to be asparagus.

"If you say the password, it will transport you to Neko." He deadpanned, then turned on his heel to go back to his bedroom for some much needed rest. However, Sakura stopped him by grabbing him lightly by the shoulder while Sasuke and Kakashi exchanged curious looks without either Inari or Sakura noticing.

"What? How? Are you sure?" She asked, seeming a little shell-shocked. "Well, Neko had said that it would take you 'somewhere safe'… so I'm assuming he meant the place he himself was staying at. Where else is safe?" He murmured sleepily and then slipped through the pink-haired girl's grasp to once again, go for some much needed sleep.

"Hey, wait…" She called, hurrying after the small boy. "What's this about a password?"

* * *

"What exactly do you mean by 'freedom'?" Asked the wizard with a note of caution. He had (despite his instincts making his hackles rise) invited the demented version of Naruto inside his house to continue the conversation, feeling that the matter at hand would probably take some time to settle.

Although clearly reluctant at first, the creature had eventually relented and entered the ostensibly small tent, only to cackle in glee and start nosing around his belongings with little care for the items he knocked over and the book he ruined with the ink pot he overturned. It almost seemed like the creature had never handled anything delicately in its life.

Neko banished the upturned inkpot and resulting stain with a sigh, feeling an odd sort of dread about the situation rather than the excitement he had expected. Furthermore, Zabuza was acting extremely oddly. When in the tent (and somewhat reassured that the creature didn't mean them _immediate _harm) he had placed the man on the floor with the intention of cancelling the transfiguration.

However, as soon as the ninja had been close to the floor he had bolted from the wizard's grasp and disappeared into the wizard's bedroom that had its doors left ajar.

Surprised yet resigned to the general weirdness of the day, Neko had put away his wand, gently pried away his Pensieve from the greedy claws of his rude houseguest and repeated his question.

The demon (although Neko didn't know him to be such) was slightly put out after having his impromptu tour of a wizard's house interrupted, however, he recovered quickly and gave another of his disconcerting grins that contained everything but warmth.

"You were right in the beginning, young wizard." The demon glowered, hating the fact that he would have to reveal his weakness to anyone, even if it was beneficial to him in the long run.

"This," the demon said, throwing his arms out, "is Naruto… or, Naruto's body, to be precise." The wizard didn't seem to have much of a reaction to the news, so the fox took it as an invitation to continue.

"However, _I…" _The demon grabbed the boy's shirt and yanked it up to reveal the human's pathetic naval and the blasted tattoo-like seal. "… am in there. And have been for the last ten years or so. And I want to be _free_." He snarled for emphasis.

"Free from this wretched container… have my own body, mind and freewill, without having to go a decade without so much as a breath of fresh air or chance to see the sun." He scowled, the clawed fingernails making quick work of Naruto's t-shirt, so when the demon let the piece of clothing fall to cover his revealed belly, only strands of tattered cloth remained.

"And you need me for that." The wizard murmured, thinking out loud rather than waiting for an actual answer. Unbidden, theories coupled with mental diagrams, enchantments and arithmantic formulae began to filter through the wizard's mind before Neko forcefully cleared his mind.

He had to know more about the situation at hand before he agreed to anything… especially since he didn't know the exact circumstances and mechanics of the situation at hand. However, the strange visitor that resided in Naruto had definitely peaked his interest with the offer, the idea of meeting other wizards…

However, the idea of wandering around the Hidden Continents, looking for a settlement that may not even exist was a surprisingly painful one, which made the thought of refusing the creature surprisingly hard.

However, Neko wasn't prepared to almost literally buy a cat in a bag, so he sat down resolutely on his sofa and turned his gaze back to the red-eyed creature that had gone back to exploring his bookcases and cabinets. The creature was now sniffing curiously at an ancient feather quill that had been stationed in one of the smaller drawers, holding it almost gently in its clawed hands.

"_Could it be, that he can sense the magic in that feather?" _Neko had wondered, watching the beast (for surely it was no human?) interact with the object. Certainly, the quill didn't _look_ like anything special, even if it did come from the plumage of a Phoenix.

Nevertheless, the wizard had a burning curiosity that he needed settled before he could make any arrangements with the creature. "How exactly did this happen… you're imprisonment in Naruto. How did it happen?"

* * *

* "Wizard" in Latin

**AN: **Aaaand… I'm back again! Consider this a sort of (very late) Christmas present. For once, I wasn't busy working or cramming my head with interesting bits of trivia, so a chapter I wrote, yes. (Hail Yoda!)

It's a bit short and more like an interlude for the next chapter (when things go hectic again), but I decided that getting something out there was better than slaving over something longer… especially since work beckons again. *sigh*

Once again, big thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed the story despite the barrage of typos, bad grammar and questionable literary choices. I salute you. ^.^ Oh, and Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!

I don't think I'm entirely _too _happy with this chapter, which seems to be more of a filler than anything else (even if demon and wizard do make contact). However, if there are any criticisms or suggestions… feel free to make them!

**BYoshi1993: **Your wish is my command! ^.^

**Cupitor**: Thanks. Neko _did _have a name – but he had it (for various reasons) removed. It will probably crop up in the very near future though!

In terms of romance… being a sap, I'm all up for romance but it's definitely a while in the coming… And since Kyuubi doesn't have a gender or even actual _reproductive organs _to create _chemistry _with… yeah. That might be a little awkward to arrange. Never say never though!

**Silvermane1: **Slick. XD

**Rinnala: **It just fits him so well, doesn't it? XD Plus, it's convenient too! Can you imagine doing a bit of shopping or leisurely travelling with the likes of Zabuza for company? Now, he has a mini-devil to take with him!

**Reader-anonymous**: Yup, I will definitely need it. I've got all the set up I need… now I just need to carry through with it. Sigh…

And if you think that Tasmanian devils are cute in photos… look at a video of them during feeding time. They're the mammal equivalent of a piranha, they're _insane. _XD Cute little faces though. ;)

**Jostanos: **Oh, the possibilities! Turning Haku into Hedwig… the idea merits some thought! XD And Neko's _sort _of come out to Zabuza, although he's yet to tell anything to the Konoha nin.

Ah, Kyuubi… I love and hate the guy (if he has a gender). The demon isn't someone who can _befriend _someone (simply because he thinks that he's without equal) but there will be a symbiotic relationship between the wizard and fox, yes… Oh no! Spoiler!

**Tariono4ka**: Well, the poor ninja is short of money… otherwise he wouldn't be working for a tool like Gatou. XD And the Tasmanian devil was created in the spur of a moment – I was going to make Zabuza into a _big _crocodile (I thought it would make a nice contrast between the pair) but I simply couldn't imagine Zabuza as the cold-blooded, waiting type. So small but crazy mammal it was!

And although I'm very much open to suggestions for this story, I do have a rough outline for what I'm planning to do – and Neko will definitely be a wizard. He's just not the sort of person who'll take much pleasure in physical exercise. He much prefers libraries and unhealthy food. XD

**Elspeth: **Nah, don't worry about the life debt – one is more than enough. For one, the circumstances were different between Neko and Zabuza (the ninja _did _try to kill the wizard, and Zabuza's injuries were far worse) and secondly – if a life debt were to be created every single time someone was healed, nobody would go to hospitals anymore. XD

Example: Harry Potter saves Arthur Weasley, Ginny Weasley etc but no life debt! Harry Potter keeps ending up in infirmary but no life debt to nurse! However, as soon as Harry Potter saves Peter Pettigrew – instant life debt! I hope this makes sense… ;)

And… Don't underestimate Neko just yet! ^.^ But Kyuubi's definitely got something up his sleeve… hehehe.

**Salamanderzrock**: I suggest you check them out on YouTube as well. They're cute in pictures, but their behaviour is insane… especially when it comes to food. ;)


	15. Chapter 16

~ Chapter 16 ~ Where Plans are Made and Interrupted

* * *

The Kyuubi no Kitsune had gone curiously silent at the wizard's request for further information regarding his incarceration within Naruto's body. It wasn't necessarily a dismissive gesture _per se_, but it was clear to the dimension-hopping wizard (even without the use of Legilimency) that his peculiar houseguest was pondering on what to reveal to the wizard and what to leave unsaid.

Neko felt distinctly odd, gazing into what should've been Naruto's open, playful features but were, instead, a mask of both mischief and malice. The creature's red irises where constantly flitting about the cluttered room but not once did they meet Neko's own yellowish-grey eyes.

"_Whoever he is," _the wizard mused, _"he's definitely not used to hiding his thoughts… that, or he has problems controlling a human physiognomy. Which is both worrying and intriguing, as odd as it may sound."_

Feeling indignant and exasperated on behalf of the creature's not very subtle attempt to trick him, Neko decided to interrupt the silence that had befallen the once promising conversation.

"Look…" He began only to pause soon after with a frown. How exactly should he word this…?

"I can tell that you're trying to trick me or, at the very least, hide things from me. And that's understandable, it really is. I'll probably be forced to do my own fair share of trickery in the future, so I'm not overly concerned with that, at the moment."

He said, trying his best to ignore the inhuman red eyes boring into him. So much for _wanting _to gain the creature's attention… but with a determined (mental) shake of his head, Neko ploughed on. He didn't come this far just give up just because his conversational partner was a little… unorthodox.

"However, from the little information I have regarding the situation I can tell that this task is going to be exceptionally hard, especially since I'll be doing this entirely on my own." He said, noticing but choosing not to comment on the way the creature's red eyes narrowed at his words.

"There's every chance that a mistake – regardless of its severity – can cost Naruto, you and I our lives. Now I won't lie – while I'm not entirely unfamiliar with containment and imprisonment magics," he said, trying not to smile at the irony, "I'm _very _new to chakra-based seals – so unless you're willing to help me to the best of your abilities, it is a pointless task to even _begin _embarking on."

The Kyuubi remained silent and the wizard began to feel somewhat antsy. A small, desperate part of him – the side of the wizard that had remained forever fifteen-years-old – was keen to just take up the odd creature's offer at face value and not spend precious time meta-analysing and probing Kyuubi's words.

For all that he was a loner at heart, he almost frantically wanted to meet other wizards on an equal standing, even if it was for a little while. Although Neko had found that he loved the idea of not knowing where he would be in the future location wise – the possibilities in the new world being endless – he knew that the knowledge alone that there were other wizards in the Hidden Countries was of immense psychological value.

However, a larger, more dominant portion of Neko's psyche comprising of his magic, experience and instincts were screaming in warning. Neko had yet to spend an hour within Kyuubi's presence and yet he had already caught a glimpse of the depth that the creature's penchant for cunning, deception and intelligence ran.

And even though he could very much sympathise with Kyuubi's situation in terms of abhorring his own time within the confinement of the Barrier, he couldn't just spring the creature loose on a whim, as it could put Naruto's own life in very considerable danger should something go wrong.

As far as Neko could see, odds were that the twelve-year-old boy hadn't done anything to deserve such a fate.

"I don't expect you to trust me, or like me, you know. All I require is that you don't hide anything that could prove important in terms of figuring out how to remove your soul from Naruto's body without killing you both."

"_Surely that's not too much to ask?"_

Kyuubi had a distinctly disdainful look on his face that wasn't too hard to interpret. "Yes, you understood me correctly. I'm not doing this if it means hurting Naruto. Say what you like on the abhorrent nature of mankind, but I'm not ruining my soul and my magic by destroying Naruto's life for something he may not even be responsible for."

Again, Kyuubi's face looked distinctly unimpressed before all traces of emotion vanished from Naruto's youthful face.

"Alright, human." The demon murmured in his gravely bass. "I'll tell you the story of how my imprisonment came to be. But in return, I want that binding wizard oath of yours to promise me that you will do your utmost – hurting the blond brat notwithstanding – to free me. And in return, I will tell you what you need to now, and show you where the dwelling of the Wizarding is located within the Hidden Countries."

"Of course." The wizard smiled, trying to appear dignified while letting a small smile of relief appear on his pallid features. However, a thoughtful frown soon made its appearance on his face.

"If we are to make a mutually-binding contract, we'll need to use our names in the wording of the oath." He murmured. There was also the nagging little problem of including a third person to act as the binder of the oath, but if Neko was the only wizard in the surrounding area, that could prove to be a potential problem.

"Kyuubi no Yoko." The creature stated, a curios level of pride in its tone of voice. Clearly, he was more than a little proud of the fact. However, Neko was forced to contradict him. "My magic – which is continuously translating for me, as this isn't my native language - is telling me that what you just told me is a title, not a given name. We can't use that in the oath, just like I can't refer to myself as 'wizard' or 'human'."

The fox began to grumble and hiss and generally show his irritation although, curiously enough, none of it seemed to be aimed at Neko himself. Meanwhile, the aforementioned wizard was having doubts of his own.

Technically, he _had _no name – in one of his numerous (and in that instance, downright foolish) attempts at escaping from the suffocating hold of 'The Barrier', he had formally severed himself from his parents' given name, thus attempting to leave the barrier as an unnamed entity should the containment magic be anchored in any way to his "formal" identity.

However, the Barrier had proved to be a cleverer opponent than that, thus leaving Neko with no freedom – and no name.

In hindsight, it had proven to be a foolish thing to do that the wizard truly did regret. He may have held his fair share of contempt for his ancestors, but being stripped of your name was a curiously painful and unpleasant experience to go through. And personal feelings aside, he may have actually lost a fair portion of his magic too.

While the meanings associated with different names was now a fixation mostly associated with teenage girls (and expecting mothers), it was no secret to wizards (at least those knowledgeable in arithmancy) that a person's name did, in fact, hold its fair share of meaning in terms of defining and shaping an individual.

And while in _theory _he could get his name back through magical means, it wouldn't ever be truly _his_ anymore. However, it should prove to be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the oath and that was all that mattered at the given time.

"Before we make the oath, I'll have to find out my name first." The wizard informed the brooding creature – Kyuubi – who was still grumbling in irritation.

"You do not know it?" Enquired the creature, its eyebrows rising in surprise. "I thought that humans were generally very fussy about such useless things."

Neko shrugged. "Oh, we are. I've just gotten rid of mine while trying to… err, hide from something. Some_one_, I meant. So…"

The suddenly awkward moment was interrupted when both inhabitants of the room stiffened in anxiety. Neko felt the tell-tale prickle of magic against his skin that informed him that someone had breached his wards (_"Again?") _whereas Kyuubi could smell the stench of an anxious human not too far away that had appeared much too close and much too _suddenly _for comfort.

"Please stay here." Neko murmured, locking his eyes with Kyuubi's. For some reason, the wizard who had no qualms with ordering about and insulting trained assassins such as Kakashi and Zabuza felt very uncomfortable with using a commanding tone with one Kyuubi no Yoko.

After a brief (but very tense) moment of silence, the demon gave a brief, barely perceptible nod. The wizard (inwardly sagging in relief) hurried up the wooden stairs to emerge into the clearing.

By now, it was closer to early morning than late night, with the horizon appearing to be a touch lighter than the rest of the nighttime sky. Of course, it could just be wishful thinking on the part of the wizard who was beginning to feel the strain of going for so long without any sleep.

Nevertheless, by applying a minute amount of magic to his eyes, the wizard (who'd taken out his wand – just in case) could use his transfigured cat-like irises to spot the figure hunched over in what appeared to be nausea in the wan light that permeated the otherwise pitch-black night.

"Sakura?"

* * *

Left alone by the hastily retreating teenage magic-user, Kyuubi felt secure enough to perform a brief, cat-like stretch and knead the aching muscles in his own shoulders.

"_Troublesome human bodies, how wretchedly inconvenient they are._" The demon thought, scratching himself and absently wondering on the curious silence that seemed to permeate through his mind. Surely the yellow-furred menace should be still ranting and raving, demanding his control back?

Although far from the most reliable of timekeepers, the fox demon could have sworn that more time than the allocated one hour had passed since he'd wrenched control from the distraught human youngster.

Suspicious but in no mood to ponder on the motivations of the stupid one (as he had 'affectionately' dubbed Naruto), Kyuubi lazily entered an adjacent room. Unlike the previous one which was filled with a myriad of intriguing little odds and ends that probably were more than they appeared at first glance, _this _room was tiny and bare in comparison, with only a single (if large) piece of furniture occupying the majority of the floor space.

Kyuubi deduced this to be the wizard's sleeping area. Feeling rather tired (due to an intimate link with Naruto's body that went beyond mere control), the demon was more than ready to curl up in the myriad of blankets adorning the bed when his nose detected a curious scent.

Ducking under the heavy wooden furniture, Kyuubi noticed that hiding between the noticeable gap between the floor and the bed (to ward off pests?), was the odd mutant-dog that the wizard was holding earlier.

The animal had tucked himself as close to the wall as possible, thus making it difficult for Kyuubi to reach it. An experimental swipe of a claw confirmed this, although the animal still crouched as low to the floor as possible and let out a pitiful little hiss which was probably meant to serve as a sort of warning.

The Kyuubi felt a savage grin etching itself unto its face. The wizard would probably not be very appreciative if he outright killed the pathetic little thing, but he had said _nothing _about playing with it, now had he?

* * *

"How come no one ever visits me just to say 'hello'?" The wizard complained to the twelve-year-old girl who was struggling (even if she daren't show it) to keep up with the brisk pace that the ostensibly young man had set.

Sakura gave Neko a weak smile but offered to answer, her face still pale and her limbs still trembling after the horrid journey she endured to get to the man… boy… teenager. Yes. It had certainly been an odd trip to get to …wherever it was… that they were walking.

When she had grasped the tacky key-chain and murmured the password that Inari had told her, she had felt utterly foolish under the heavy gazes of Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke, the two people in the world she _didn't _want to look foolish in front of!

However, luckily enough _that_ particular sentiment had lasted only for a moment though. Not a second later, she had felt the most sickening sensation she could ever imagine – the world was ripped away from under her feet while her body was jerked forward by her naval by some invisible force. The fact that one of the last things she saw was a _very _wide-eyed Sasuke gave her only a small dose of satisfaction.

She had felt like a rag-doll within a tumble-dryer, thrown about with no control over her limbs while something that was neither darkness nor light flashed before her eyes.

When she was roughly deposited in an unknown clearing in the forest – in nearly pitch-black darkness, no less – it came almost as a relief. And fortunately, she had barely stumbled to her feet when she heard a familiar voice calling out from the darkness.

"Sakura? How on Earth… oh, right. Inari." Quiet laughter emanated from the teenager beside her, which told Sakura that Neko was moving closer to her even if she had only a very rough idea of his position due to the rather frustrating lack of light.

As if he could read her thoughts, Neko gave a soft noise of understanding and began to rummage around within his pockets. At least, that's what Sakura _thought _he did, if she could trust her ears.

The appearance of a sudden source of light was almost painful to Sakura whose eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, but it also came as a relief. However, when she saw that the source of light was _not _the torch she had assumed it to be (due to the flickering of the light) but the fact that Neko's arm seemed to be on fire, she had very nearly fainted again.

Bemused, Neko had roused the pale, trembling girl form her half-crouch on the forest floor and assured her that his hand was certainly _not _on fire. He was merely holding what appeared to be a handful of flames without being burnt and with no apparent source of fuel for the fire to consume. That was all.

Thankfully, the wizard had noticed how pale the girl's face had become after the surely disorientating trip with the portkey and had decided that another teleportation back to Inari's home would be an unnecessary strain on her, so he had decided to walk there instead.

Although she didn't show it, Sakura was beyond grateful. She knew that refusing to use an instantaneous means of transport was foolish and put an unnecessary amount of strain on her injured teacher, but she just didn't feel able to take such a straining trip so soon after the first one.

So they had set off into the dark forest, the flickering blue flames contained in Neko's left hand providing them with a sufficient – if eerie – source of light.

* * *

"Come out, little doggie." Crooned the Kyuubi no Kitsune, crouched down on all fours in a predatory stance over the small table in the wizard's home. "I won't hurt you… much."

The fox knew that his invitation was probably not quite as tempting as he would like it to be… but he just couldn't help it! Tormenting things smaller and weaker than you was _fun_…

The demon had begun to cackle in demented glee when the tiniest of sounds – the twitch of a claw against a hardwood floor – alerted him. The demon leaped towards one of the cluttered wardrobes just as the small, black-furred creature underneath it made a desperate dash towards the stairs that lead to the outside world.

It was not meant to be, however. "Caught you, little doggie." The demon purred, rubbing its chin against the stiff black fur of the terrified creature in its clawed arms. "Let's play a _game_." He said with a sudden grin.

Momochi Zabuza could only whimper.

* * *

**AN: **I'm so very _sorry _about how short this chapter came out – less than 3,000 words! It's a travesty! – but I sincerely believe that with how busy I'm going to be in the coming few weeks, I won't be able to squeeze in much recreational writing. So I may have to either do slightly shorter chunks than what I'm used to, or just go a month or so (at least) without a proper chapter.

Nevertheless, I decided to go ahead and post this. At least this way, I have a nice idea of where I'm going and where to start the next one. Sorry if it's a bit yucky… I've tried to edit it to the best of my abilities, but I'm nearly half-asleep, so… yeah. ^.^ If I find anything blatantly wrong later on, I'll fix it then.

Ok… I'm going to shut up now, before the author's notes become longer than the actual bloody chapter O.o

But once again, big thanks to everyone who's read or reviewed this story, you make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Even the criticisms, so please don't hesitate to let me know if something doesn't make sense or is blatantly wrong or out of character (in terms of canonical characters, of course). Neko, however, is perfect just the way he is! XD

**sterata: **Thanks. I'm glad you think so. ^.^

**GoldenRat**: Well, he _is _the "god of the foxes", he's bound to be cunning. I've always felt a tad sceptical whenever Kyuubi's been portrayed as a "me demon, me smash and roar" kind of character.

And Neko… Neko is going to get a more than worthy opponent. ;)

**Reader-anonymous**: It's always the cute ones, isn't it? Why can't leeches or cockroaches ever get facial tumours?

And (sadly) back to the topic at hand… Neko may be smart to not trust Kyuubi outright… but he's hindered by the fact that he's acutely sympathetic to anyone who's in any way imprisoned + Kyuubi's shameless when it comes to tricking people. XD

**Melkijad: **True… but then again, methinks that Kyuubi no Yoko is mighty scary and may not appreciate having someone rummaging through his mind. XD But don't worry! There will be a lot of screwing over coming along soon, with wizard tricking fox and fox tricking wizard. Hehe…

**Byoshi1993: **Heaven forbid. XD Although if faced between the choice of studying for important end of year exams or making life difficult for Neko… well, I think you can guess which one will win. ;)

Hopefully, there will be even more action soon!

**The-Living-Shadow**: Have you been reading my mind? O.o I'll have to come up with something surprising to keep this interesting then… hehehe…

Thanks for the review! ;)


	16. Chapter 17

~ Chapter 17 ~ Where Deals are Sealed

* * *

The decidedly odd duo moved quickly and silently through the thickly overgrown forest, the brunette teenager taking the lead while Sakura trailed after him about a step and a half behind.

Neko was still clutching the handful of flickering blue flames in his left hand while his right one (the boy's dominant arm, she had surmised) remained hidden within the folds of his spacious sleeves.

Oddly enough, while it seemed that they weren't following any sort of ostensible beaten track or trail, not once did Neko falter in his trek through the inhospitable forest. Sakura could only conclude that Neko knew exactly where he was going, and could do nothing but trust the secretive teenager to get them back to Tazuna's house safely.

A small part of Sakura felt vaguely embarrassed about the situation she had found herself in – after all, wasn't she a certified ninja, one of the top-scoring graduates from the Academy? It really seemed a bit… pathetic to her, having to resort to being _escorted _to Tazuna's home by a civilian.

She also felt an all too familiar heat rushing up to her cheeks when she remembered the almost-tantrum she threw when the boy – Neko- had offered to teleport them both back. If she hadn't been so fussy, they could've been in the bridge-builder's home already and sensei's injury could have been looked at by now…

But no, she thought with a shudder. Travel by 'portkey' as the teenager had called it, was one of the single most unpleasant sensations the girl had ever experienced, Sasuke's constant rejections included.

And anyway, by walking she at least knew where she was being taken to – in theory. Glancing in apprehension at her less than hospitable conditions, Sakura had to admit that Neko could still be taking her to any location he saw fit. After all, it wasn't like she knew where she was in the first place…

And this made it all the more embarrassing. After all, she _was _native to Konoha, a village famous for producing competent ninja as well as having an uncanny affinity for forested landscapes. And Iruka-sensei had done nothing but a thorough job of beating the basics of navigation and survival training into his graduating class.

"_Sasuke-kun wouldn't need to be practically __led__ out of a __forest__." _She thought sadly. Of course, in her less than objective opinion, there was nothing that the dark-haired brunette couldn't do if he set his mind to it. This brought her a meagre amount of reassurance…

Until an unbidden thought came wandering through her mind, pointing out that her confident rival and once best friend, Yamanaka Ino, would probably be far more competent in the current situation than she. At least Ino had confidence in spades.

Sakura decided to cut that particular train of thought and wrenched her attention back to the present, cursing herself for letting her guard down so easily. So, feeling slightly admonished by her own mental (and very violent) rant, she made sure to pay double attention to what went on around her… after all, hadn't a lack of awareness nearly gotten their client killed by the couple of rogue chuunin from mist?

It was this resolution by Sakura to be more alert that initially brought to her attention that something was slightly off with their journey. The forests surrounding the Land of Waves were nothing like the magnificent woodlands surrounding her native Konoha. Here, the trees were much smaller, almost bush-like and their roots were almost completely hidden by the abundance of weeds that were flourishing in the damp, shaded environment.

So how come, for all that they were marching straight through the heart of the forest, they had yet to weave, duck or swerve _once _to avoid any low-hanging branches, nettles or other hazards?

Training her mint-green eyes on the form of the teenager in front of her, she was startled to find that the _plants _themselves were subtly moving out of his way, rather than the other way round.

After witnessing some of the things the older boy had managed to pull off in the last few days, moving vegetation shouldn't have really surprised her as much as it did, even if he _was _a civilian.

However, even though Sakura had a surprisingly good grasp of chakra theory and its applications, she couldn't even _begin_ to explain how he could accomplish something like that. Some mutant variation of the wood-release technique, perhaps?

Discretely, she tried to glance at her unorthodox guide while trying to not alert him to this fact. After all, after getting used to seeing him in the disguise of a large cat, she had never really taken a good look at the mysterious stranger's face.

At first glance, he did not seem to be in any way unordinary. He was of a medium height and build for his age, with short, dark brown hair that was almost painfully normal and neat compared to the wild hairdos found in one Team 7.

His facial features, while certainly slightly alien, were pleasant enough and unlike most of the people she had to interact with on a daily basis, _his _featured weren't turned down in a perpetual frown, twisted into a blinding grin or dragged down by a look of utter boredom. He was… normal.

Except of course, for the small inconvenient fact that he _wasn't_. He was a difficult person to understand – his personality seemed to be agreeable and straightforward enough but most of his actions, techniques and motivations were anything but.

For one, his need for secrecy and keeping his features hidden were somewhat puzzling, considering the fact that he vehemently denied being a ninja or ever being trained as one.

So why would someone – bar being a criminal on the run or a shinobi on a mission – want to be so secluded, so anonymous? Who – or what – was he hiding from?

In fact, if one stopped to think about it, the entire situation surrounding the "cat" just seemed… off. While it was true that Neko had done a considerable amount of good in the Land of Waves, long before Team 7 had even received the mission, he was still an unknown factor with no known loyalties or motives.

Of course, anyone with eyes could have seen that the odd teenager felt a definite fondness for Tazuna and his family, not to mention some of the younger children belonging to the impoverished residents of Wave.

"Sakura?"

And his exploits against people working on Gatou's payroll (some of whom _must _have been exaggerated by word of mouth) where oftentimes the talk of the village, if one bothered to stop and listen in to the gossip.

"… Sakura?"

But on the other hand, the people he had chosen to reveal himself to were few and far in-between. The number of people he had actually_ spoken _to was even smaller. Why hide from the people who were more or less rooting for him?

"Sakuuuura?"

And his odd ninjutsu was even more infuriatingly puzzling! The way he moved suggested that while he seemed confident in his techniques (for a lack of a better word), he moved in a manner that just seemed to scream "civilian" to Sakura.

Although far from being the best in hand-to-hand combat, she was still trained to move in an as efficient manner as possible (or at least, try to) whereas Neko obviously hadn't. Who would train a child in ninjutsu but not show them even the basics of hand-to-hand combat?

"Sakura!"

Startled, the girl jerked out of her musings and glanced at the older teen that was looking at her with an expression of both amusement and exasperation.

"Sakura, I've been nearly yelling at you for the last few minutes, but you were completely ignoring me." He said with a small frown.

It disappeared quickly enough, however. "Plus, you're staring was starting to make me blush!"

Sakura turned bright red with mortification and stuttered an apology, although not entirely sure what she was apologising _for_.

"_Calm down_. I was only joking, you know." He said with a smile, eyes crinkled jovially. Sakura noticed that the older teen had slowed down minutely – not enough to really impair their progress through the forest but he was now walking right beside her, rather than leading the way.

Sakura noticed that the flame that the boy was holding (she was still trying to wrap her mind around the concept) didn't seem to generate no heat whatsoever which was a ridiculous notion – anyone with a basic grasp of science knew that a blue-white flame was much hotter than a yellow-red one, yet even from a distance of little over a foot…

"Sakura." The older boy murmured, once again ripping the girl out of her musings. She blushed once more against the stare of the older teen. _What? _She liked solving puzzles, and there were many a piece missing that was needed to explain the mess of a jigsaw that was their supposedly "C-Rank" mission.

"Sakura, I'm being serious." The brunette said, his voice little above a whisper. "You really have to pay attention, you know."

Sakura frowned at the subtle chiding tone that the older teen's voice had acquired. Pay attention to what? What was he hinting at?

"Sakura. Can you honestly _not _hear it? Tsk, tsk… and here I thought that _you _should be guarding _me._ Listen, and tell me if you can spot anything wrong." He said, not once raising his voice above a whisper or faltering in his stride.

Still frowning, Sakura decided to follow the odd teen's advice and quieted, pricking her ears as much as possible while trying to ignore the soft sounds of their own footsteps among the deadfall covering the forest floor.

At first, she could not sense anything out of the ordinary, the silence permeating the forest almost ringing in her ears but then, she heard what Neko had been obviously hinting at – a soft snap of a twig, the sound muted and clearly out of sync with their own footsteps. The noise was not repeated again, but it had been enough for the young kunoichi.

She couldn't help but draw a quick, frightened breath. "We're… we're being followed." She whispered, her heart surreptitiously picking up its pace. Somebody else was _there_, in the dark... watching them.

"Actually, I doubt that it's _us _that they're after." Neko interrupted her, giving her lower back a gentle push to make sure she didn't falter in her gait. Shivering from nerves and the cool air brushing past her bare arms, she quickened her pace to match the older boy's.

While still not necessarily _trusting _of the teen, his presence brought her a measure of comfort, knowing that she wasn't alone in the dark with the unknown entity sulking somewhere to their far left.

"If anything, I doubt that they've even noticed us – if we're lucky." He added. "However, there's a problem. I'd wager that the person – whoever they are – are trying to spy on Tazuna's house."

"Which is where we are going." Sakura whispered, biting her lip in anxiety.

"Don't worry, Sakura." He murmured with a small smile. "If worst comes to the worst, I'll just apparate us both to Tazuna's house, nausea notwithstanding. However, apparating is often noisy and I don't want to give an unknown number of potential hostiles an incentive to attack. You said you're sensei is injured right? And with Naruto gone missing…"

Sakura tensed beside the older teen. How had he known about Naruto's disappearance? She had certainly not told him about that, after seeing the odd way her teacher and teammate were behaving regarding the boy's absence.

And if one thought about it… wasn't the one that had injured their elite teacher _still _out and about, somewhere in Wave?

"I have my ways." He said with small grin that dropped rather quickly to be replaced with seriousness.

"Sakura, I'm going to extinguish the light, it's the first thing that they'll notice if they get too close. After that, grab onto me and we'll circle the house so as to stay away from the stalker, alright?"

Before Sakura could even take a breath to ask him _how _he imagined they could pull off a plan like that with no source of light or directions to follow (she herself wasn't entirely surethat she could keep going in a straight line), she saw her surroundings once again sink into darkness as the flame in the boy's hold disappeared altogether.

Startled, she waved her hand to where the boy was standing but was startled to find that he _wasn't there_. Before she could properly worry though, she felt something warm and soft and _large _brush against her legs and sides.

"_Oh, of course. His cat disguise… but why a henge? How would that help?" _Despite her doubts, she placed her hand on the furred back of the large cat and followed it, blindly, into the darkness. She could only hope for the best.

"_I wish I'd taken his offer and 'apparated' instead. This is more of a headache than that 'portkey' Inari gave me. And speaking of Inari, he better have _not _known what would have happened when I said the password… or he's certainly going to get it!." _

* * *

Unlike Sakura (he could feel the tenseness of her arm even through his thick pelt) Neko felt right at home in the night-time forest. After all, his animagus form was all but _built _for a nocturnal, ambush-hunting lifestyle so to him, the darkness was not a major inhibiting factor.

His large eyes were almost completely taken-over by his expanding irises in an attempt to catch as much light as possible and even the thin sliver of the moon provided him with enough illumination to navigate successfully.

His proportionally large, webbed and thickly furred paws made almost no sound on the densely littered forest floor, although the noise was more than noticeable to his sensitive ears, one of his primary senses in his animagus form.

It was a shame that his nose was all but useless though. Maybe then he would at least have had a _hint _of who it was that was stalking around his friends' home.

He had to be mindful though – Sakura could not see _anything _in her current surroundings so he had to take care to make sure that the girl didn't run into any trees or step onto any twigs or dry leaves which could potentially alert their fellow stalker, who would have to remain anonymous for now.

However, things seemed to go surprisingly well and it wasn't long before they came upon Tazuna's house with its windows dark and unwelcoming, save for one.

* * *

"How come almost every time that I see you, you've just had your bottom handed to you in a fight?" The wizard asked in a conversational tone, trying to dispel the rather awkward atmosphere that had fallen over the kitchen inhabited with the entirety of Team 7, not counting Naruto of course.

"… my _bottom_?" Kakashi asked with a hint of incredulity in his usually passive voice. He would have probably scratched his head in confusion, if he weren't so busy holding up his shirt so that the odd teenager could stare at his wound and poke it with a wooden stick.

"_How often does he disinfect that thing?" _He wondered with a hint of worry.

Sakura – who had had a look of almost comical relief on her face when she entered the safety of the kitchen and assured her teammates that she was fine – was now determinedly looking away from her teacher, a furious blush on her face.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile at that. Who would have guessed Sakura to be a raging pervert? Oh, the potential for teasing … they made it so _easy_…

"Well I'm sorry but I refuse to be so crass as to say the word 'ass' in front of young minds so susceptible to the cruder things in life."

"I think my students are perfectly mature and capable of withstanding a little rough language, don't you think?"

"I was talking about you, you know."

"… oh."

* * *

Zabuza crouched as close to the floor as his awkward four-legged shape allowed, praying that the demonic maniac prancing around in the crazy wizard's living room wouldn't take notice the furious pounding of his heart, which seemed to be intent of bursting its way out of his ribcage.

When the demon had first grabbed hold of Zabuza, the shock, awkwardness of his new body and the knowledge that it was the _most powerful of the tailed beasts _manhandling him like he was nothing but a momentary source of amusement made him feel nothing but shock.

It had been too much, his frame becoming momentarily frozen still, while his years of combat experience faded away in the face of a newfound feeling of complete _hopelessness_ that Zabuza did not care for in the least.

However, his prodigious fighting instincts – which _did _make him a famous ninja, no matter what the arrogant Copy Nin said – didn't allow him to remain placid for long.

Kyuubi – who had clearly _not _expected any form of resistance from the small animal gave a shocked yell when Zabuza used his newfound claws and powerful jaws to clamp down on the creature's left wrist.

Normally, the demon would have just laughed at such a pitiful show of defiance – however, being in control of a mortal body proved to be a disadvantage to the nine-tailed demon fox as Naruto's instincts kicked in and he jerked back with an involuntary yelp, dropping the small, black-furred animal to the floor.

Zabuza wasted no time at all and used his smaller stature to nimbly weave through the blond genin's legs and dived underneath the massive (and heavy) wooden bookshelf which was high enough from the ground to allow the ninja to squeeze in underneath but also low enough to hinder the demon should he try to stick more than his arm underneath in an attempt to grab him.

Now, temporarily hidden away from those piercing red eyes that were much more sinister than even that creepy Sharingan, Zabuza had only a few seconds to put his hastily thought-of and highly improvised plan into action.

As a jounin-level ninja, Zabuza had considerable chakra reserves (although probably slightly below the levels of that arrogant, bushy-haired Hatake) that he knew how to put to good use with his generally water-based attacks.

However, despite having excellent chakra control (required for such attacks as his "creeping mist" technique) he still needed to use at least a bare minimum of hand-seals, even for the creation of his water-clones despite the fact that that particular jutsu was almost second nature to him.

However, that was in his 'normal' body. As an animal, Zabuza found himself with laughably tiny chakra reserves – which made him aware of every drop that he possessed.

Which was why, after closing his eyes and concentrating with ferocious intensity on the flow of distribution of his chakra, he was able to create a clone, even without having any hands to form the necessary sequence of seals.

Of course, the clone was a simple bunshin – it was not substantial like the blond brat's creations and would dispel after a single hit. In fact, any ninja worth his salt would probably laugh at his embarrassingly bad attempt at a genin-level jutsu.

Furthermore, even this, one of the easiest techniques taught in the Academy, made the animal-Zabuza feel slightly nauseous, a telltale sign of chakra exhaustion.

However, the insubstantial chakra-clone, bursting from underneath the wardrobe and tearing towards the only exit was enough of a distraction for the infuriated demon for Zabuza to make a break for the wizard's bedroom once again.

Cursing his clumsy claws for making such obvious sounds on the hardwood floor, he hastily scrambled underneath the bed once more. Before, he had made the incredibly foolish mistake of trying to outrun the demon in the genin's body, with obviously catastrophic consequences.

Now, however, Zabuza would have to bank his very life on the hope that the demon wished for the wizard's cooperation and goodwill enough to overrule any intention the creature had of destroying the boy's bedroom to get to him.

The low, clearly angered growl emanating from the living room, and the sound of footsteps, slowly approaching the ninja's choice of a hiding place made the ninja swallow in apprehension.

"_Where the hell is that bloody nut-job when you need him? Get back here and SAVE me!" _

* * *

After ascertaining that the laceration on Kakashi's side was little more than an extensive flesh wound, he had poked his wand into the bloodied flesh (earning himself a hiss and a glare), stood up and watched with a hint of satisfaction as the previously torn flesh knitted itself back together, leaving behind only a slightly reddened area to show for it.

"There you go. Fit as a fiddle."

The grey-haired man sent him an odd look, lowering his shirt. Kakashi had never heard that particular expression before and the spell that was translating Neko's words (often quite literally) wasn't helping any.

"Fiddle with what?"

Neko sent the experienced ninja an odd look.

"… I'll leave that to your discretion."

Even more confused but deciding to let it be, Kakashi abandoned that particular trail of conversation.

"Thank you for your help. It's appreciated." He murmured, scratching the back of his head with a grin.

"Don't you lie, you ungrateful bastard." Neko quipped, giving him a smile of his own which notified the ninja that the teen wasn't really offended.

"You don't trust me – fine. I can understand that. If I met someone with such clearly superior talents and intelligence (not to mention my envious good looks) I would feel threatened too… so it's ok, I don't mind."

Kakashi snorted and the tense atmosphere in the kitchen lightened, even if a little bit. But of course, Neko had to go ahead and ruin it.

"By the way, there's someone skulking about the forest, watching the house. Sakura and I nearly ran into them earlier."

At those words, the older ninja sent the brunette a hard look. "Did you see them?"

"No, and I don't think they saw us either."

"Good."

"Yes."

"…"

"So, what's happened to Naruto?"

"He's sleeping, over-did it in training again."

"Really?"

"… Yes, why?"

"Because it's funny. How come my wards tell me that he isn't even anywhere _near _this house?"

At this, Kakashi gave the seemingly younger boy an unusually hard look.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that. While I appreciate all that you've done to help Tazuna and us in accomplishing this mission… I do not appreciate having any sort of techniques being performed on me and my team without or knowledge or consent, including this… tracking technique you seem to be using."

"Firstly, to answer the question I think you _should _have been asking: yes, Naruto's alive and well. The only problem is that I have no idea _where_ he is – either he's being hidden very well or he's managed to get out of range of my 'jutsu'."

The two men stared at each other with serious expressions until Neko cracked a crook, cat-like grin at the 'older' man.

"As for the 'tracking' part – as much as I hate to say this, if I had to choose between violating your privacy or risking a bunch of sneaky ninjas sneakily putting their sneaky weapons into my not so sneaky ribs, I'd choose the former. Sorry."

Sakura let a soft snort escape her lips. Apparently, mistrust was not for the ninja alone. Everyone seemed to be suspecting somebody for some reason or another…

"And don't even _try _to change the subject, Kakashi. What are you going to do about Naruto's disappearance?"

The silver-haired man gave a noncommittal shrug and a one-eyed smile. "Well… it's no big deal, _really_. I'm sure that once he calms down," the ninja said, giving Sasuke a cursory glance, "he'll come back on his own volition."

Sakura, not entirely understanding of the situation but sensing that her teacher _really _didn't want to talk about Naruto at the moment, chose to intervene with the first question that popped into her head.

"Err… Neko-san?"

"Yes?" He rounded on her, keeping the older ninja in his peripheral vision.

"How come… how come you never use any honorifics when you speak? I mean… you don't really seem like the person who'd be…"

"Intentionally rude?" He asked, the girl giving a slightly embarrassed affirmative. The boy seemed to contemplate this, tilting his head slightly in thought.

"Well… I do have a feeling of why that is… although it's nothing to do with being rude, I assure you."

Sasuke, who'd been otherwise silent throughout the entire exchange, let out an audible snort of disbelief.

"It's true!" Neko argued, grabbing a chair and sitting down by the table, opposite the jounin.

"Basically… to make this short – I know you're trying to distract me from Naruto, Sakura, way to be sneaky – the words you hear coming out of my mouth don't actually exist. They're a result of a technique, which translates my words into a cohesive and meaningful message for your ears."

He said, scratching his chin while Sakura blushed at being called out like that.

"My language, however, doesn't really use suffixes like yours does. Therefore, unless I take the effort of manually man-handling "san" and "chan" and "kun" and god-knows what else into my conversation, you'll just have to excuse me."

Immediately after giving his mini-lecture to a nervously smiling (if somewhat intrigued) Sakura, Neko whirled around and gave Kakashi an accusing stare.

In a way, Neko knew that he was being awfully contradictive in the manner he was behaving. After all, he still needed to talk things through with Kyuubi and if Team 7 collected their missing teammate and left for Konoha… what then?

But his less-than-rational part of the brain was strangely insulted on Naruto's behalf- why weren't they looking for him? Didn't they care that he was missing?

"What about the thing that took a chunk out of your side, huh? It' still… it's still out there." Neko murmured, his jaw going slightly slack as the realisation sunk in.

How hadn't he thought of this before? _Of course _it made sense that Naruto had been with his teammates when Kyuubi had wrenched control from the blond boy… and it wasn't really difficult to imagine that his teacher had tried to stop the creature… so in the very least, Kakashi had to know about the nine-tailed fox.

_"Thank Merlin that nobody else got hurt… if Inari, Tazuna or Tsuname had gotten in the way…"_

He could (somewhat) understand Kakashi's reluctance to admit that Naruto was missing because of a violent, hostile entity had taken over the boy and disappeared into the forest…

But mostly, he was bloody annoyed. He could _understand _secrecy, he really did but with the way things were, he was in a serious disadvantage in his dealings with Kyuubi. He didn't know _anything _about the creature except for what it had told him, and he felt it was safe to assume that Kyuubi was _not _a nice, honest individual, to put things lightly.

The only one he could ask was Zabuza… who was left alone in his house, unsupervised… with Kyuubi.

"Crap." Neko muttered, wide eyed. _"What the hell was I thinking?" _

"I, err, left the oven on. See you guys in the morning!" And with those parting words, he disappeared with a whip-like crack, not caring much for dampening the sound in his haste.

Sasuke, who had become used to Neko moving about _silently _was startled intoletting a kunai fly in Neko's direction, although by the time it reached its destination, the wizard was long gone.

Instead, the weapon was caught by an irate Hatake Kakashi. The newly-healed silver-haired ninja used the blade (which had been heading for his one _good _eye, damnit) to pin the smirking boy's shorts to his chair, shocking Sakura into silence and eliciting a cuss from the usually composed Uchiha.

* * *

"What in the world happened?" Neko gasped, facing the very image of chaos and destruction that his living room had been reduced to. Standing in the middle of it all, looking both angry and proud, stood the Kyuubi no Yoko.

"Your ugly dog disrespected me." It growled, flexing its claws. The very claws that, as Neko now knew, had taken a considerable chunk out of Naruto's teacher.

"Yes, he can be like that." Neko murmured, using his wand to perform several brisk but complicated looking arm-movements. Books, artefacts and knickknacks instantly flew back to their respective places while the furniture reassembled itself and an angrily chattering Zabuza went flying from underneath the bed into the arms of the wizard who gave him a brief check-over (to see if anything was missing) and then placed him back on the floor.

Zabuza, ignoring his severely injured pride, promptly placed himself _behind _the legs of the wizard… just in case. _"If the demon attacks, he'll have several more pounds of wizard to chew before he even gets to me…"_

Kyuubi looked incredibly disgruntled, but seemed to perk up (if that was possible) with the wizard's next words.

"Alright, Kyuubi… san." He said, adding the suffix as an afterthought. "Naruto's team will be looking for him soon, and we need to get this oath over and done with. Do you, or do you not have a given name?"

The fox hissed out an angry affirmative.

"Are you willing to show me to the wizards, should I free you?"

"Yesss…"

"Are you willing to admit that I won't be able to free you if it means hurting Naruto?"

"…"

"Kyuubi?"

"Yesss…"

"And would you be willing to agree to _not _hurting people – especially the ones I know personally – unless it is for self-defence while I am alive?"

"That was not part of our agreement, wizard!"

"Yes, but that was before I saw what you did to Hatake Kakashi and what you _tried _to do to Zabuza. After I kick the bucket, you'd be free to do as you please but until then, I'd like to keep my hands clean of the blood you so clearly wish to spill."

"Fine, you damn arrogant wizard…"

"Then all that is left to find is an oath-keeper. Someone who will bind the agreement while we speak our oaths."

"There are no other wizards… here."

The Kyuubi spoke apprehensively.

"It's a bit of a unique situation really – not many of my people make binding oaths with the non-magical, but I think that a wand and some of my own magic should be sufficient to bind us in an agreement. Zabuza?"

He turned to the animal who was vehemently shaking its head, clearly in disagreement.

"Your ugly dog?" Kyuubi asked, with a hint of uncharacteristic dubiousness.

"He will do just fine." He assured the demon.

"The only component missing is my own name. However, I predict that in an hour, tops, we'll have sealed the deal... the pun being entirely unintentional."

Neko murmured, grabbing the disgruntled Zabuza and disappearing into his bedroom.

"Feel free to raid the kitchen!"

He called out to the demon in the living room.

"Too late for that, wizard." The demon murmured, his belly full of the various (unfortunately cooked) meats he had encountered in the kitchen. Being hungry was a wretched sensation that he did not envy the humans for… not that he envied them for anything, really.

Once again robbed of entertainment, the Kyuubi speculatively eyed the plush looking leather sofa (which, as he knew after tearing into it with relish, was full of soft bird down) and curled up on top of it in a distinctly canine manner, before drifting off in a light slumber.

"Stupid, weak human bodies…" He murmured, sleepily.

* * *

Neko's mind was in turmoil, which was very unhelpful if one thought of the things he was about to do.

He knew that he was taking an enormous risk with forming the oath with Kyuubi – if the little double-cross he was planning didn't go according to plan, he would be putting a lot of people in danger. Hadn't he seen what it could do, even in the "weak" body of Naruto?

With a sigh, Neko pulled out his Pensieve from the depths of one of his cupboards as well as procuring a piece of parchment, quill and inkpot from one of the various drawers lining his desk.

While arranging the items on his desk for easier use, he remembered his previous resolution to talk to the rogue ninja about Kyuubi and pulled out his wand. A flick of a wand later, and he had a full-sized Zabuza back – under his bed.

After an initial struggle coupled with expletives and death-threats aimed at everything and everyone that the ninja could think of, Zabuza duly emerged and gave Neko a chilling look.

"Wizard, if I could, I would kill you and I wouldn't make it pleasant either – do you have _any _idea…"

Neko, however, didn't seem to be paying him any particular attention. Instead, he was staring at his desk, his face adorned with a speculative frown.

"What can you tell me about Kyuubi? Don't worry, the door's soundproof." He asked, interrupting the flustered ninja mid-rant.

"Tell you? TELL you? What exactly would you like me to say? That you're about to set loose a demon that can wipe out an entire city as a form of light entertainment? A fox the size of a mountain that hates people and wants us all to disappear from the face of the earth? You're _insane _if you think that dealing with that creature – in any way – is a good idea. I'd never thought I'd say this, but you _can't _be selfish enough to agree to this deal. The Kyuubi will never hold his word, and I doubt that even _you_, with all your fancy techniques, can make him!"

Neko remained silent during the entire rant, his head propped up by his hand supporting his chin while his yellow-grey eyes bored into Zabuza's without blinking.

When the ninja finished, he too fell silent and instead chose to glare at the young wizard with all his might.

"Do you really think…" Neko murmured, giving Zabuza a small, self-depreciating smile. "… That I don't know that? Despite what you might believe, I've given the matter a whole lot of thought… and I've decided to go ahead with this anyway."

Zabuza opened his mouth for a furious retort but felt curiously silent when Neko lifted his arm in a bid for silence.

"I have a feeling that there's going to be a whole lot of trickery going on Zabuza… Kyuubi and I, you and I… Team 7…" The wizard let out a sigh, rubbing a weary hand across his exhausted eyes.

"I'm going to do something extremely foolhardy, I'll admit… but it's yet to be seen who will emerge on top… and who'll be paying dearly for their gamble."

Neko bent down and rummaged about his messy, overstuffed drawers before making a small sound of triumph and emerging from his bent-down position with a small vial clutched in his hand.

The wizard removed the stopper and cautiously moved the opened vial under his nose before hastily removing it with a grimace. With a resigned sigh, Neko pinched his nose shut and hurriedly gulped down the contents of the bottle, no more than a single mouthful's worth.

The wizard closed his eyes, grimaced and tried to hold his tongue still in order to avoid letting his taste buds come into contact with any more of foul tasting liquid.

"Merlin, that stuff's nasty." He said with a shudder, tossing the empty pitcher back into the drawer that closed itself with a quiet snap.

"What was that?" Zabuza asked, curious. He felt that with the foolish wizard so determined to make a grave mistake, there was little he could do but try and avoid the worst of the catastrophe that was surely to follow.

"Energy drink. Its effect to the body is very similar to a mental kick in the crotch – painful but very stimulating."

Neko did a quick stretch of his aching back and pulled the parchment and quill closer to himself, resigning himself to a night of Arithmancy and boring memories. "I suggest you take a power nap of something… I'll need you awake afterwards."

Before Zabuza could protest about not wanting any part in the disaster that was sure to follow, Neko calmly told him that a favour of such magnitude would probably write off a sizable part of his debt. Zabuza, while still feeling incredibly apprehensive of the whole situation, eventually relented and walked towards the wizard's bed.

Instead of sleeping in it, however, the elite ninja propped himself against the wall next to it and let his eyes fall almost shut, only a sliver of his coal-black eyes remaining visible.

And there he remained the entire time that Neko worked, without moving or showing clear signs of sleep OR consciousness. Just in case, the wizard decided to let sleeping ninja lie and with a resigned sigh, laboured to find out the name he had discarded in his youth.

* * *

"What the hell have you done to me, you bastard good-for-nothing puffball?" Naruto hollered, shaking his fists at the Kyuubi whose mental defences had somewhat weakened when the boy's mind and body fell asleep.

However, the demon fox still had primary control over the blonde's body and he was in no mood to relinquish it _now. _However, the enormous amounts of chakra that he was exuding in order to keep Naruto subdued without destroying his host was such that Kyuubi could actually _feel _the drain.

And being the creature with the largest chakra reserves in the known world, Kyuubi found this to be understandably worrying. However, if all went well, soon he would be free of the proverbial shackles holding him unto this wretched cage, located in the mind sewers of an unthankful little simian…

"Hold your floppy mouth, you insignificant little twit." The demon growled at the infuriated boy. If there's one thing Naruto hated, it was being called _insignificant_. "If all goes well, soon you'll be rid of me and I of you." Kyuubi snarled, retreating back into the maze of sewers that was Naruto's mindscape.

"Hey, come back! It's boring in here… no wonder you're so crazy." Naruto yelled. There wasn't even anywhere to _sit_, the entire place was drenched with what he _hoped _was water…

"Stupid, stupid fox… when I get out of here, I hope to never having to see that damn ginger mutt in a million billion years!"

* * *

"I'm ready, Kyuubi-san." Neko informed the demon as he was rousing from its restless sleep on the couch. Upon hearing the wizard's words, however, Kyuubi all but leapt at the form of the bedraggled wizard.

"Is it done? We can proceed?" He asked with a manic grin.

"Yes. The actual procedure of the oath is actually very simple, but you have to take care in what you say because you won't be able to go back on your word later on."

"Yes, yes, yes… I've waited a long time for this, wizard. Let us not dawdle any longer."

"Of course… Zabuza will act as a witness to our oath." Kyuubi shot the tall ninja that had appeared beside the wizard a very disparaging look but to the man's credit, he only shuddered but remained rooted to his place.

"All right…" The wizard murmured, handing the apprehensive ninja his wand. "Hold on to this and for Merlin's sake, don't _do _anything. My magic will handle the actual formation of the oath, you just have to be here and bear witness, alright?"

Without waiting for a reply, Neko turned on his heel and faced the still-grinning Kyuubi. "The oath demands that we hold hands to bind the oath."

He spoke tersely, holding out his own hand that felt small and weak in comparison to the calloused, clawed hand that all but latched on to his own.

"Go on, Wizard. You go first." The creature urged, squeezing the frail appendage holding his own and fighting his baser instincts that demanded that he crushed those delicate bones he was cradling…

"Oh no, Kyuubi-san. _You _go first. I'd like to reserve the right to back out should you decide to… change or omit something from our agreement. It's merely a precaution."

The wizard said, fighting _his _instincts that demanded that he retract his hand as soon as possible.

"Very well, wizard." The fox snarled. "How do I perform this… oath?"

"Just state your name… your _given _name, followed by 'I solemnly swear', followed by the terms of our agreement. Then I will do the same. Any time _before _the two of us complete our oaths, you have the option of pulling out by releasing my hand. Any questions?"

The irritable silence was all the answer he needed, and the wizard signed in resignation and urged the fox to start.

"I,… _Kurama_," The demon spat out the word with surprising hatred, "_better _known as Kyuubi no Yoko, do solemnly swear to show you the village of the Wizarding located within the Elemental nations, as well as to refrain from attacking humans – you including – within the span of your lifetime, should you prove successful in your promise to free me from Naruto."

A bright, fiery ribbon snaked its way from the tip of Neko's wand (wielded by a wide-eyed Zabuza who couldn't believe the words coming from the demon's lips) and snaked its way around Naruto's slim wrist.

Neko, feeling suddenly incredibly apprehensive, looked into Kyuubi's merciless red eyes. _"He's being surprisingly cordial in his oath… what is he planning? He didn't even try to use the loophole I gave him when I told him not to attack people in _my _lifetime, without including myself in the condition. Have I made a serious error?"_

However, the wizard felt that it was far too late to back out now. The adrenaline, the _danger _that was involved in the forming of the oath made him incredibly heady but he forged on and forced himself to concentrate. If he slipped up in his wording…

"I, Callistair, family name unknown, do solemnly swear to do my utmost to separate you, Kurama from your prison within Naruto, without causing harm or threat to your lives. Should I fail, I am releasing you from any obligations held to me, as I will have failed to hold my part of the oath. So mote it be."

At his words, an identical ribbon of flame snaked around his wrists and for a moment, the proverbial chains linking their fates together glowed brightly in the dimmed room. Then, they quickly sunk into the skin of their wrists and disappeared from sight.

"So mote it be." Neko, nee Callistair, murmured with a surprisingly heavy heart. Kurama just grinned.

* * *

**AN: **Holy crap! This chapter is kind of gargantuan in comparison to the others I've written… and something actually happens in this one!

And yes, "Neko's" real name is (was) Callistair. It's a name that I personally like very much and I've been planning to use it from the very beginning. Unfortunately, due to the way I've set myself up… it's probably going to have to change sometime soon… but I don't know to what yet. So I would actually really appreciate any suggestions.

And yes… Neko (Callistair) _did _form a deal with the devil! I do wonder if anyone can spot the loophole I left that he's going to exploit… *hint hint*

Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, you guys are awesome! ^.^

**Rabbit Pie: **Thanks! I felt like I had to change the bit about "forgetting" his name because while it may have fit my 'original' character, the one that popped up as the story went along just wouldn't do such a thing, as eccentric as he is. ^.^

Plus, it gives me a chance to get a little background info in there, since – as you said – one of them has to remember their name and the other one has to… well, you'll see. ;)

And the whole Kyuubi-Zabuza thing wasn't so much about those two characters in specific – it's more like a mild reminder to Neko that Kyuubi is _not _a nice person, no matter how much he may feel sorry for him… and tormenting Zabuza is fun. XD

**luffy: **Now _there_… is an optimistic statement if there ever was one. XD But I shall endeavour to do my best. ;)

**Rinnala: **The oaths would have been superficially similar only since there wouldn't be an actual _mutual _agreement – it would've been more like a "don't do this, this and that, _or else_" kind of thing.

And the whole "tormenting Zabuza" thing, again, was just a way to give Neko – when he returns – a little insight into Kyuubi's true personality, as the demon would try to get along (as much as he can) with the wizard and not show his true colours.

Anyway, thanks for the review!

**GoldenRat: **I fear that secrecy and a lack of trust may be a cause for problems in the future… *whistle*

**salamanderzrock: **Aww… so are you. ^.^

**Reader-anonymous: **Happy New Year to you too! And don't worry – no Narutos will be harmed during the writing of this story. At least… not too much. ;)

**CrescentMelody: **That might be because I think I've gone a bit ambitious for a first story… it's actually only in its beginning stages. O.o But I think that I _might _be unto to something new here, since it won't be a heavily Konoha-nin based story.

**The-Living-Shadow: **I can most certainly see what you can mean! However… well, I don't want to give away too much *squee* but Neko definitely has something up his sleeves. ;)

And yes, Konoha ninja will probably _not _be very understanding of Neko's situation. That's why he's so worried about keeping both Kyuubi and Zabuza out of harm's way.

Oh, and just as a reminder: Kyuubi doesn't know who Zabuza is – as far as he (and I use the term "he" very loosely here) thinks that he's just a small animal he can torment while its owner is away.

**hentai18ancilla: **Kyuubi just really needs a hug… and Zabuza will probably need a straightjacket sometime soon. ;)


	17. Chapter 18

~ Chapter 18 ~

* * *

"So… it is done." Kurama murmured, gazing with fascination at his right arm where the fiery magic had sunken in, surprisingly painlessly. He had expected the blazing magic, so similar to his own demonic chakra in appearance, to sear the mortal flesh, perhaps branding it in some manner to commemorate the agreement that they had formed.

After all, it _was _an unprecedented event in the history of the Hidden Nations – Kyuubi, for all his longevity, had never even _heard_ of there being an agreement between human and demon - at least, not with both parties having an equal standing. Usually the demons either completely dominated the relatively weak human populace or were sealed away and forced to act as chakra batteries for arrogant ninja.

Not even the Sage of the Six Paths had ever attempted to barter with his creations, despite having taken the time to give them names before setting them free into the world. Perhaps, he hadn't thought them capable of thinking and reason…

"Yes, it's done. You probably won't feel any different though… unless you try to break the deal. I've heard that the consequences can be… quite unpleasant." The weary-looking wizard grimaced while he pocketed his wand, having retrieved it from a shell-shocked Zabuza.

Gazing at an incredibly odd watch (that neither Zabuza nor Kyuubi could make head or tails out of), Neko frowned thoughtfully while fixing his eyes on the demon that was still looking at his slender forearms in fascination.

"We do not have much time… Team 7 will not be ignoring Naruto's disappearance for long, and it's only a matter of time before they either come looking for him… or alert their leader back in Konoha about his – and consequently your - disappearance."

"So how soon can you free me?" Kyuubi asked bluntly, his crimson eyes boring into Neko's (formerly Callistair's) own.

"Well… I do need to do a bit of preparatory research… and I do need _some _sleep." The wizard muttered, yawning. "But if you can just tell me _how _you became sealed away, it would be of great help to me."

The demon grumbled in token dissatisfaction, but consented quickly enough. After all, loath as he may having to share intimate details about his life, it was for his own best interests in the long run.

"Fine… but I warn you, wizard, it is a long story to tell."

"I don't mind. Frankly, I know so little of this world than any story sounds interesting."

The demon snorted. "How trustworthy is your pet monkey? I do not divulge personal information to just anyone… _especially _not ninja." He growled, baring his fangs at the stony-faced (if rapidly paling) Zabuza.

"Odds are, he'll be staying with us for a while," (a hint of a grimace appeared on Zabuza's physiognomy), "so he might as well be informed. Please, begin at your convenience."

Neko said politely, plopping down tiredly on the leather couch next to Kurama. The demon seemed momentarily startled but quickly collected itself, frowning at the wizard who didn't seem particularly wary of being so close to the cantankerous demon.

* * *

Haku loathed leaving Zabuza alone in such uncertain circumstances (even if directly ordered to) but unfortunately there was nothing to be done for it. The older man had given him explicit instructions that, although slightly confusing and _very _unusual, were his duty to perform - so Haku would do it. And _then _pester his master for details.

After escaping through the open doorway of the small house, Haku noted that with the moon so far across the sky and with light edging across the horizon, it would be daybreak soon. Already the stillness of the night was occasionally punctuated with the occasional sleepy trill from birds beginning to rise for a new day.

After marking the location of the small, inconspicuous tent with a cut line through one of the larger trees in the area, Haku had momentarily looked back at the clearing to find… absolutely nothing. The tent had all but _disappeared _and now that he stopped to think about it… was he even sure that it had been _this _particular clearing?

It was difficult to remember how long he had travelled to get to that tree – couldn't have been more than a few leaps at best, but the area looked completely unfamiliar. And which direction had he come from… the west? No, that wouldn't make sense; there was a river close by in the west and he hadn't seen one when he'd left the tent-slash-house. It had to be something else…

Recognising the signs of a potential illusion, Haku tried to dispel it but with little success. The teenager had even cut himself in an attempt to use pain to jar his senses back into reality but it just didn't work.

Cursing himself for being caught unawares and mentally apologising to Zabuza for making such a mistake so early on in his mission, Haku turned around and made a beeline for their hideout, anxious to fulfil Zabuza's last orders no matter what it took, even if his heart felt heavy with unease.

Something felt incredibly off with the whole situation and he just hoped with all his might that Zabuza, who was no fool but prone to overestimating himself at times, would escape from the ordeal unharmed.

* * *

"I do not know how far your knowledge – or lack of it – goes, so I shall start from the very beginning. You should listen too, _ninja._ See _exactly _what your kind has wrought on the world."

Zabuza himself felt like he had a pretty good idea of how deep human depravity could go, having done some pretty horrible things himself (especially when he was still part of Kirigakure's ANBU unit) but chose to not argue with the creature. Although he wouldn't admit it, he felt some curiosity as well. It wasn't too often that one got the opportunity to really _talk _to a demon or listen to what it had to say. At least, not without a heavy undertone of violence being involved.

The fox, as if sensing Zabuza's thoughts snorted, but strangely enough chose not to comment. Kyuubi began to speak, his usually frowning physiognomy smoothing out as a somewhat and a thoughtful expression took its place instead.

"Centuries ago, the world was a very, very different place compared to what it is now, although if it is for better or for worse, I cannot say." The Kyuubi said, yawning and stretching in a distinctly canine fashion. Despite his best efforts, the demon hadn't gotten much rest. Apparently, even the hyperactive blond brat's body had its limits.

"Those times were characterised by incessant, violent, world-wide wars – an utter disgusting cesspool of human violence, greed, cruelty and depravation. Peace was a fool's dream and anyone that tried to pursue it was quickly cut down by those unencumbered by such useless ideals."

Frowning, as if trying to grasp a murky memory, the Kyuubi ran a clawed hand through his host's blond fu… hair.

"Mind you, there were no such things as ninja or chakra techniques back then, so my… ancestor of sorts… the ten-tailed demon or "Juubi", as it is sometimes known, reigned supreme, bringing peace through annihilation wherever human malevolence collected and festered at its greatest."

The demon turned visibly sour as he continued his tale. "But then, a great big fool had to come along and change the status quo. As if the human world could be _bettered _in any way." The demon snorted in disgust.

"I don't know his name and I don't deem it important anyway… although the humans sometimes call him, often simpering pathetically while they do it, the 'Saviour of the World' and 'God of Shinobi'. Bah." The demon spat out in contempt.

Zabuza's eyes, however, had widened in astonishment. "You mean… the Sage of the Six Paths? But he's just a myth… a story to explain how ninjutsu came about… he wasn't actually _real_… was he?"

He trailed off; uncomfortable with the way Kyuubi was staring at him.

"Humans have a pathetically short collective memory." It stated. "But yes, unfortunately the man did, in fact, exist." The demon didn't seem to be very happy about admitting it too.

"He was an extreme oddity if there ever was one. He was the first person to discover how to access and manipulate chakra yet none have come even close to reaching the levels of power that he had, even if he _did _have the bloodline limit, the Rinnegan, at his disposal."

Neko wanted to ask what the 'Rinnegan' was but decided to keep the questions for later. He didn't want to interrupt the demon that seemed to gradually overcome his reluctance to speak and was beginning to really get into his role as a storyteller.

"Nevertheless… this man, this upstart chakra manipulator, tried to spread piece to the violent mass of hairless monkeys by teaching them how to use their chakra – ninjutsu – to protect themselves. And it seemed to work, at first."

The demon grumbled at this. "For the first time in history, a person's prowess in battle was no longer determined by their brute strength – even females and cripples could be deadly if they were skilled enough in manipulating their chakra and caught their targets unawares."

_"Not that backstabbing and sneaking about had to be _taught _to them." _The demon thought with contempt but faced with his enraptured audience, decided to soldier on with the story.

"However, mastering chakra is a long process and ninja clans and villages were slow to form. And even with ninjutsu at their disposal, what could a human, or even a swarm of humans, do to the ten-tails, the most powerful demon to ever exist? As it were, their short lives were still governed by fear that their own malice would attract the Juubi who would dispense his own brand of justice swiftly and without mercy."

The Kyuubi said, an unnerving fanged grin adorning his heavily whiskered features.

"With this reasoning, that man – the Sage - _subdued _the ten-tails long enough to seal it away within himself, thus removing the only creature to threaten the existence of humans – other than themselves, naturally. I can't think of a single thing that a human enjoys more than getting one over another human."

"But I digress. For all of his fabled powers, the Sage _knew _that the Juubi was far too powerful to be contained for long and his death would once again set the ultimate demon free on the human world."

At this, the demon actually grinned.

"Now, for all that he proclaimed peace and love and all that other useless nonsense to humans, he didn't actually _trust _them, now did he? For he not only refused to seal the ten-tails within a different human, he used one of his techniques to seal away the body of the ten-tails (thus creating the moon) and another to split the enormous chakra reserves into nine parts."

Neko decided that this was a good part of the story to intervene with a question. "Wait… are you telling me this man, the 'Sage of the Six Paths', _created the moon_?" He asked, furrowing his brow in thought.

_"He cannot be serious. The moon is far too gargantuan to be created on the whim of a human." _He thought, at odds with the sheer ridiculousness of the claim and the Kyuubi's apparent honesty.

"Yes. He used his ability to manipulate earth to encase the body of the ten-tails – it's _physical _body – within an earthen sphere and then chucked it into the skies where it now resides and is known as the moon."

The Kyuubi recited, a grimace overtaking his features. "Stupid hero-worshipping humans."

_"As powerful as he may sound, that seems like an incredibly reckless thing to do. The resulting volcanic activity could have torn the planet apart." _Nekothought, wrenching his gaze back at the demon.

"That was how I – and my eight kin - came to be. He used his ability – "Creation of All Things" to sever the chakra of the Juubi to create nine separate entities housed in nine physical (but not entirely corporeal) bodies, each one more powerful than the other and I, as the nine-tails, am the strongest."

Kurama preened momentarily before his countenance soured again. "Of course, the arrogant human also had the nerve to bestow us with names (as if we were his to name in the first place) and then unleashed us into the world to make our own way."

However, Neko's mind was once again churning. _"Creation of all things? Does Kyuubi mean... conjuring? Creating things from seemingly 'nothing' but energy?"__  
_Not noticing - or not caring - that half of his audience seemed to not be paying close attention to his words continued with great zest.

"Being called so suddenly into existence – from absolute nothingness to world of chaos – is not a pleasant experience. But we adapted. Some – like that lazy, fat turtle – went into hiding. I, however, stayed and fulfilled what should have been our original purpose - terrorising humans into learning their place."

"With most people either ninja or associated with ninja in some way, people began to feel somewhat safer and a period of relative peace began. However, knowing humans as I do it is of no surprise to me that this pseudo-peace didn't last very long. Soon, the ninja and their leaders begun to feel greedy and bored and wanted to fight one another once more."

"However, I've always been drawn to violence, chaos and suffering… it calls to me from miles away and so the ninja learned to either be sneaky and subdued… or end their days under my paws."

"Predictably enough, some tried to steal my powers – I remember swallowing a particular pair of ninja whole for their impudence – but they were all unsuccessful. At my best, I was nigh unstoppable against human or demon."

Kyuubi spoke with a feral grin adorning his youthful features. "Many a fledgling village ended before it could truly flourish because of me. However, I made one fatal mistake that I've regretted ever since."

The demon growled angrily, spitting out the words like an angry cat. "Konohagakure. I should have destroyed that pathetic place before it even began, I should have fallen the mountains that surround it on top of it, I SHOULD HAVE BURIED IT UNDER THE OCEAN ITSELF!" Kyuubi roared, turning himself away with a sharp jerk and breathing heavily in an attempt to bring his temper under control.

"But I didn't. Why? Because the humans founding it were all descendents of the Sage of the Six Paths and their abilities – although lesser variants of the Rinnegan – were… problematic for me." He growled, not willing to admit that both the Sharingan of the Uchiha and the Wood Release of Hashirama Senju were capable of controlling and suppressing his powers.

"However, I paid for my folly, and I paid for it dearly." Kyuubi grumbled.

"Humans cannot stand peace. They hate it, they hate it almost as much as I do – the powerful humans love nothing more than to fight one another while the weak ones enjoy the benefits that come from oppressing those weaker than them. Uchiha Madara was one such human."

Kyuubi's voice had taken on a low, gravely tone that eventually evolved into a full growl. "When his clan turned their backs on him – tired of his ceaseless attempts to defeat his rival, Senju Hashirama, and putting them under the constant strain of an all-out war with the Senju clan – he sulked like a petulant child and disappeared on them."

An ominous orange glow began to emanate from Naruto's small form, encasing him in what seemed to be a cocoon of flame. Zabuza, clearly uncomfortable, took several steps back from the enraged beast while Neko appeared to be completely unaffected within the confines of his beloved cloak.

"That… _man_, found me while I was on my way for a bit of quiet away from the humans – the land belonging to your kin, wizard – when he confronted me and with his damned eyes forced me to do his bidding, going so far as to make me into a _slave _that he could summon at his beck and call."

"And then, he forced me to fight for him, battling with the first Hokage who happened to be of Senju descent – the humans will tell you that his name was Hashirama, but I don't particularly care to know. All that matters to me is that the foul Uchiha was bested – and I (even though I had nothing to do with the petty human squabbling in the first place) was sealed away within the bitch of a human when her husband weakened me with his bloodline limit."

"I spent several decades, several _miserable _decades locked inside that bitch until her pathetic human body began to fall apart from old age. The feeble human knew that just like my ancestor, the Juubi, no seal could contain me for long - especially with such a weak container and useless seal… so before she died, she forced me into another human, a _younger_ human called Uzumaki Kushina."

"And while that was happening, her wonderful husband – who's very existence I loath like you wouldn't believe, human – decided to spread a little goodwill around the world by sealing away my kin, one by one, and giving them as _gifts _to the other ninja villages. Of course, they eventually paid dearly for their impudence but that's a story for another time."

"My new container eventually became pregnant and her weakened state nearly unleashed me upon the world once more… however, another Kami-damned Uchiha _had _to appear. He claimed to be Uchiha Madara but I knew for certain that he wasn't – I could feel Madara's chakra (which was actually fouler than my own) from miles away, and this man was not him although the humans believed his lies and thought it to be so."

"Nevertheless, this upstart had clearly swapped notes with the older bastard because he was able to summon me, breaking me free from the Uzumaki bitch and forcing me to attempt to kill her and attack the village of Konoha."

"Normally, I would have been more than glad to do both, but not on the orders of another – especially not of a human – and least of all, an Uchiha. But Naruto's darling father, the Yondaime Hokage, sealed me away and unlike his predecessors, he sealed me away for good – he sealed my Yin chakra _("the spiritual part of the chakra" _Neko's mind supplied helpfully – probably from Sakura's memories_)_ and sealed it within a Shinigami (_"death god"_) and forced my Yang (physical) chakra and body into his infant son, just hours after emerging from the womb – thus Naruto became my third jailor."

Kyuubi's voice suddenly became unnaturally calm, devoid of the passionate emotion that it harboured before. It was although the demon was reciting an unpleasant fact that he wanted to be emotionally detached from.

"I was created to be immortal, wizard. However, fear that… that might not be so for longer. The seal is designed to slowly absorb my chakra into Naruto. And as a creature composed _entirely _of chakra…"

Neko frowned. That wasn't a _… tremor _in the demon's voice, was it? It couldn't be. He couldn't imagine Kura… _sorry, _Kyuubi showing such weakness in front of two humans. Clearly, his imagination (and the empathy that he couldn't help but have for the demon) was forcing him to imagine things. That, or the clever demon was trying to play with his emotions... damn sneaky fox.

"With my spiritual chakra gone and unlikely to return, and Naruto slowly sucking the life out of me, it's only a matter of time before I cease to exist. And then, unlike my kin who have the luxury to revive when their container dies, I will be gone – irrevocably. Which is why I _need _your help, wizard." The demon said. It was clearly obvious that the last words were painful for the demon to utter.

If before the creature was full of bravado and trickery and violence, now Neko couldn't help but think that the demon was being honest – or at least as honest as he was ever going to be.

There was a marked period of utter silence between the occupants of the room. Zabuza was gazing, still shell-shocked from what he had learned within the span of a single hour, at both Neko and Kyuubi. _"It is almost incomprehensible… having such power… of forcing a demon to do your bidding… as if they were mere pawns. Are they the real ninja and we the weaklings? Or are we ninja – and they simply superhumans that break the laws of normality like they were school rules? _

Neko, however, didn't seem to notice either the murmuring Zabuza or the intent, almost burning glare that Kyuubi was bestowing upon him. He was thinking – that much was obvious, if the frown and the lip-biting was any indication – but seemed otherwise surprisingly blasé about being confronted with the enormity of the task that he had been presented with.

A full five minutes of absolute silence passed. The hush was almost deafening and to the other two occupants of the room, the relatively short period of time seemed like an absolute age – especially to Kyuubi despite having become accustomed to spending decades in solitude and stilness.

Neko's mind was churning a mile a minute. After the demon had, quite unsubtly (even without saying it out loud) posed the question of Neko's ability to fulfil his part of the bargain, his mind had instantly launched into overdrive.

It would be a lie to say that the wizard wasn't worried. He _had _underestimated chakra and its capabilities, and the task he was confronted with would probably be a spectacular challenge to even chakra-knowledgeable shinobi.

However, if there was one thing that Neko was well-versed in, it was overcoming significant challenges – and this time, he decided with resolution, would be no different.

"I think I have an idea…" He murmured slowly, gazing at the tense creature housed within Naruto. "It's not going to be easy though, Kyuubi-san. I will need to consult my books and I'll probably have to harass Zabuza for information on chakra theory…"

Kyuubi turned his burning eyes at Zabuza and the ninja who had nearly declined – out loud – to help the wizard in his insane task, became very still when Kyuubi shot him a feral look that clearly said _"I know what you're thinking, human… and if you know what's good for you…" _

"But I think I can do it."

* * *

**AN: **Aaand... it's chapter 18! Not much happens in this chapter, but Neko gets filled in on some basic history of the local history and I'm avoiding revision even though the exam is three days away. Hooray for all-nighters!

Nevertheless… I think that when I encouraged people to find loopholes in the oath, I may have opened a floodgate… XD

However, since it really seems to people that I haven't thought things through (in what clearly is a pivotal point in the story), I'm going to try to defend myself to the best of my ability. ^.^

I want to make the effort to personally reply to every review I receive and place them in the _next _chapter. Unfortunately, this tends to mess with the word-count of the story but there's little to be done for it, unfortunately… *sigh* Ok, on with the show!

**1. **Time limit: By not specifying when he's going to show the village, Kyuubi actually compromised himself. The deal was that if Neko succeeds, Kyuubi has to fulfil his end of the agreement, no matter what. He's physically incapable of _not_ doing it. In HP, a Wizarding oath is seen only once (I think) and even Bellatrix was shocked that Snape would resort to such extreme measures so it isn't just a casual agreement. It's binding. Kyuubi can't just go "oh, well… I don't feel like doing it just now, you'll have to wait."

And if the fox _does _bugger off without showing the village to him... if Neko dies before Kyuubi can show him the village he _will _trigger the oath. And not in a good way.

**2. **Harming Neko: Callistair actually falls under the "no harming humans" clause after he finishes his oath... and Kyuubi can't attack him while it is still active. And since Kyuubi specifically said that he won't harm him either ("including yourself") it doesn't matter if Neko is using his animagus transformation - his identity doesn't change while he transforms. Not that Kyuubi knows that he's an animagus... he just thinks that he smells like cat. ^.^

And apart from harming him outright, Kyuubi has no other means of killing Neko. He can't do it himself; he can't attack him indirectly as either you want someone dead or you don't - thus risking triggering the oath; he can't hire ninja (he has no money and he'd be attacked and sealed on sight if he tried) and he _really _doesn't have the best of relationships with the other demons. Even if he could access them (although they're all sealed and surrounded by ninja), they probably wouldn't be all that keen to get together and kill an unknown human on Kyuubi's orders.

**3. **Harming Naruto: At this point - if Naruto dies, so does Kyuubi. And even though he hates Naruto in the anime, he hasn't really put in that much effort to hurt him (apart from calling him weak all the time). Kyuubi's a bastard but he isn't an idiot. He knows that from antagonising Naruto, he gains nothing... especially if Neko fails to free him and he's stuck with the brat.

**4. **Not hurting people before Kyuubi is freed: Kyuubi's anxious to be free as soon as possible so it's doubtful that he'll let Neko out of his sight. And if he ends up captured or attacked by ninja (e.g. Team 7) and Naruto regains control - it will put a serious hold on his goals. So no - Kyuubi's not that keen on interacting with other humans at the moment (especially as he considers himself 'weak' in Naruto's body.

**5. **Furthermore... in my mind, if Neko decided to tell Kyuubi that "you won't be able to use your powers, you won't be allowed to go near villages, hurt people, say mean things to Naruto ...bla bla bla... Kyuubi would probably decide to screw the whole thing and punch his head off since he's too proud to be controlled_ that _much. ^.^

Um... that's all the loopholes I could find explained (except the one I was looking for) but if I missed anything please let me know and I'll add that as well. ^.^

**Big thank you** to everyone who's read or reviewed this story! I will make sure to answer every review and message that I receive and I'll probably put them at the end of each chapter (even if it messes with the word count, which I don't like but can't help). So please let me know what you think!

**BYoshi1993:** While those are valid points (that I tried to address as much as I could), that's not quite the ones I was thinking of. Look at what Neko says but Kyuubi doesn't. It's not really that obvious and I may have actually made a mistake in the wording a little bit but I think you can get the gist of it. ^.^

**salamanderzrock**: You'll see. ;) Stay tuned for more cheesy drama!**  
**

**MisterQ: **Thanks for the review, it raised several valid points that I tried to answer to the best of my abilities. ^.^

**CrescentMelody:** Oh no! I love Zabuza, he's one of my favourite characters! Can you tell me exactly what it is that's bothering you? Do you just not like the character or is it my portrayal of him that's lacking?

**hentai18ancilla: **Can you finish what you meant in your review? But yes - Kyuubi isn't "evil" - he's just thoroughly unpleasant and selfish.**  
**

**Melkijad: **Unfortunately, he's lost that name forever. It's enough of an identity that the magic recognises him and allows him to form an oath, but that's about it. On the other hand, if he _does _get himself a new name, there is a chance that he'll regain some of the magic he lost but that risks cancelling the oath as there would be no-one by the name of "Callistair" anymore.

**GoldenRat: **Haku will be making more of an appearance shortly. And interestingly enough, while I got the name "Kurama" from the anime, the original author was inspired by YYH's Kurama, yes. ^.^

**Reader-anonymous:** I'm not entirely sure on half-humans (there are any in the Naruto world?) but yes, the oath doesn't include non-humans (demons and animals).

**secret-sorrow:** Although the timeline is a 'little' bit messed up, it's only been a few hours since Zabuza gave Haku the mysterious instructions that he's gone to fulfill so he _will _make an appearance, but in a while yet.

**dragonteeth: **Hopefully, I have answered your question succesfully. If it still doesn't make sense, feel free to ask me. ^.^ It makes me glad because it suggests that people are at least somewhat interested in following the story.


	18. Chapter 19

~ Chapter Nineteen ~

* * *

After Neko had more or less declared his intent to go through with his absurd agreement with the volatile demon, he had all but disappeared within the confines of his bedroom. The teenager's rather frail arms were almost completely occupied with heavy leather-bound tomes that he had sneakily pilfered from his own bookshelves, with the occasional packet of tea, bottle of ink and parchment thrown on top for good measure.

The wizard had almost reached the doorway of his bedroom when he realised that Zabuza, his highly unwilling houseguest, had nowhere to sleep. Cursing to himself, Neko tried to unsuccessfully manage the heap of items in his arms in order to reach the wand he had stowed away within the confines of his pocket.

Although the foldout leather couch occupying a good portion of the room was easily large enough to house more than one sleeper comfortably, the wizard – with all his lack of social graces – knew that it would be highly wishful thinking on his part to expect that the demon and ninja would share.

For one, Kyuubi had already – in his overbearing and possessive manner –laid claim to the plush piece of furniture. After turning about its proverbial tail, the demon made a show of curling about and lying down, taking up nearly the entire width of the sofa, while leaving one blood-coloured iris trained on the brunette ninja with a distinct challenge in his gaze.

And, despite how tempting the idea was, Neko knew that making the ninja sleep on the floor – again – would only cause further irritability in the volatile man. Thus, after a minute of unsuccessfully trying to manage the heap in his arms, the young wizard finally became fed up with the clutter of items on his person and dumped them on the floor, mindless of the fact that some of the books were priceless antiquities.

Arms finally free, Neko whipped out his wand (causing both demon and ninja to stiffen) and conjured a futon and a set of linens for the brunette ninja. A further, almost unnoticeable movement of the wand caused the cluttered items on the floor to fly to rise up the air and fly haphazardly after the retreating back of the wizard, who was distractedly murmuring to himself in a language that neither Kyuubi nor Zabuza recognised, let alone understood.

Both ninja and demon spared a moment to stare at the door that had all but slammed shut after the departed wizard, before quickly returning to their previous activities. For Kyuubi, this meant making himself comfortable and keeping an eye on the shifty ninja. For Zabuza, this meant manhandling the recently created futon as far away from the aforementioned demon as was humanly possible.

He didn't care if he was being rude – and even if he _was_, the damn monster was clearly enjoying it, if the fanged smirk was any indication. Clearly, it felt that Zabuza's disinclination to be anywhere near the demon was a sign of subservience. And the annoying thing was, the demon was more or less right.

Zabuza knew that in a fair fight (before his disastrous attempt to assassinate Tazuna), he could have killed Neko easily. Well, if he snuck up on the wizard… while his back was turned… sleeping… and if he didn't have his blasted coat on, which he seemed to wear _all the bloody time… _anyhow, he could take on the wizard, the little weakling that he was.

Naruto the genin wasn't even worth mentioning – just because he had – with the help of another genin – managed to _distract _him in a fight, didn't mean that he was a powerful adversary. No matter what that stuck-up dog Hatake Kakashi said.

"_And he would say that_." Zabuza thought to himself angrily, tucking the piece of furniture in the far corner of the room. _"They're his students. If they suck, it means _he _sucks as an instructor. Bloody _genius _can't have _that_… Prat." _

The Kyuubi no Yoko, however, was a completely different matter. The creature may have been sealed away into the body of a twelve-year-old, but it was still a powerful, volatile and cunning creature that was clearly _not_ at odds with violence, especially for the sake of recreational purposes.

Thus, after making sure the futon was more or less where he wanted it to be – away from the demon, surrounded by walls on two sides and in clear view of the only exit – he lied down, somewhat awkwardly, and tried to calm his turbulent mind enough to get himself some real sleep.

Meditative rest was all right – particularly in situations where you couldn't afford to let your guard down for any real period of time – but it simply couldn't compare to proper sleep. And if he had _any _chance to get away from the creepy duo holding him captive, he had to be rested and attentive – not tired and crabby.

_Especially_ if Haku succeeded in his impromptu mission, Zabuza mused. He had to admit that his plan hadn't been all that well thought through – he wasn't a born strategist, that was for sure – but he was sure that if an opportunity presented itself, he could probably make something up as he went along.

"Stop fidgeting and go to sleep, you bothersome gnat…" The demon growled, its agitated voice ringing loud and true throughout the silent room.

Angry but smart enough not to make trouble, Zabuza clenched his teeth and kept his silence, choosing to seethe in silence. Well… near silence, in any case.

"I said be _quiet, _you loathsome monkey!"

* * *

It was amazing how against all rationality, familiarity could breed comfort, the young wizard thought with a wan smile. Here Neko was, sitting alone in the dark, with only the odd crackle from the various candles situated across the room to disturb the silence and only stacks of (mostly dangerous) books to keep him company, and yet he felt… calm.

"_It's almost like being… there." _He mused to himself, taking care to censor out the word 'home" from his vocabulary. Although the mansion situated in the Barrier had been both his birth-place and school, it was still first and foremost a prison - he had _hated _the place and had dedicated the vast majority of his life to escape from it. It was therefore _not _home in any way.

And yet now, in these most stressful of circumstances, he felt calmer than he had since his fateful encounter with both Zabuza and Kyuubi. The flickering light of the candle, casting shadows in the most inconvenient of places, the rustle of fragile parchment and the irritating smell of old books and sour leather… it was… _homey_.

Although he wouldn't allow himself to _miss _the place – let alone feel homesick, of all things – he couldn't help but think mournfully of his house elves. All those who he had left behind and forced to find new masters, despite the fact that most of them had been born in the Barrier –like himself- and never known any other home than with Callistair… his only companions.

With a frown, the wizard closed his eyes and used a meditative technique – courtesy of his occlumency lessons – to clear his mind of these feelings of guilt and doubt that had suddenly taken root in his mind.

"_I _must _not lose focus_." The wizard chided himself, rubbing at his tired eyes with the back of his arm. _"It was the right thing to do. The right decision… and their resilient little buggers, they'll be alright." _He thought determinately. _"I, however, won't be – unless I find a way to fulfil my end of the contract!" _

The problem was that although the wizard had a good general _idea _of what he was going to do about Kyuubi's situation– he wouldn't have made the agreement if he hadn't – Neko was slightly murky on the exact details on the magic he would need to use. And what's more, he couldn't, for the life of him, remember exactly _which _book he needed for the specific details of the spell!

He remembered it being a rather questionable piece of magic – definitely more forbidden than not, as most of his knowledge tended to be – that had involved some rather dodgy practices. However, since that particular topic hadn't lent itself with his objective of the time – escaping the barrier – he hadn't bothered to do more study on the subject or to remember the details.

And while he _would _find the book, and _would _do anything it took to free Kyuubi no Yoko from Naruto's body, he had a very strong feeling that he would not be happy with the task. With a resigned sigh, the brunette wizard poured himself a cup of nearly black tea, breathing in the heady vapours rising from the surface of the liquid. _"Ok… so where did I put that bloody book?" _

* * *

Humans – and their bodies - were completely and utterly useless, and should have been scrapped the moment they emerged from… wherever it was that humans came from, Kyuubi thought with a disdainful sneer. The volatile expression, however, gave way to a pained grimace when the demon made a too sudden of a movement in a bid to make himself a bit more comfortable.

Oh, the ancient demon knew _why_ he was in pain, and felt so utterly wretched – he had expected this, after all – but that didn't mean that he disliked it any less! Although what he had done had been necessary in order to obtain his freedom (and the demon's plan _had _worked, better than he had initially expected), it had been a costly victory on the part of the demon.

Although incredibly embarrassed to admit it, overcoming Naruto and gaining control over their shared body had been one of the most difficult things the demon had ever done in its long and eventful life.

_Initially _it had been easy, the demon mused while trying to arrange his awkward bipedal body in a more comfortable position. When the boy had given in to his anger – even if for a disappointingly short period of time – Kyuubi had experienced relatively little trouble with seeping through the seal and influencing the boy's mind.

Subduing the boy, however, and trapping him within his own mindscape had been an entirely different matter. In fact, if the demon hadn't sensed the presence of the wizard and _known _that he had a unique opportunity to break free from his prison on a permanent basis, he would never have attempted such an act in the first place.

The seal – designed by that blonde bastard rat of Hokage – was primarily designed to keep Kyuubi _in _and Naruto _out _– with any excess chakra exuded by the demon being filtered off by the seal and incorporated into the brat's own chakra circulatory system. In other words, the more the demon fought, the stronger his host became.

However, by continuously and forcibly flooding his prison with his own particularly potent chakra – most would say _searing_, even – he had managed to get just enough past the seal to subdue the boy, even if it was only temporarily. However, the amount of chakra the demon had to use was phenomenal – it was a surprise that the human's puny body had even _managed _the strain, but judging by the sheer pain coursing through his body, the demon hadn't been far off his assessment.

The burning – accompanied by the feeling of hollowness growing in his chest, undoubtedly due to all the chakra he had spent – meant that Kyuubi could not keep the blond boy captured within his own mindscape for much longer, not without damaging himself beyond recovery.

Kyuubi had hoped – but not expected – to manage until the wizard had found a way to free him from his wretched prison. With a pained huff and a grimace, the Kyuubi concentrated on his own raging chakra inside the boy's strained chakra network and, with a profound sense of relief, let up his assault on the boy.

Almost immediately, Kyuubi felt himself lose control over their shared body, his eyes blurring while the wizard's den slowly transformed itself into the familiar visage of his dreaded prison, sewage and all.

"_You would have thought that the damned brat might have cleaned up his own mind a little bit." _Kyuubi grumbled to himself, lying down gingerly for a nap. Although the demon did not have a body to feel pain with anymore, he could have sworn that he felt a peculiar heaviness in his limbs… which was complete nonsense of course, because he didn't _have _limbs, but that didn't make the demon feel any less crabby.

He still had his nine tails, the fox mused while laying his massive head on his paws. He knew because he could feel the uncomfortable sensation of them being pressed against the bars of his cage. He had feared (as much as a demon could fear) that his little bout of freedom might have cost him more chakra than he had initially assumed, but despite being weakened and weary, he was _still _the strongest demon to have ever walked the Earth since the Juubi.

"_The wizard better be up to this task." _Kyuubi grumbled, his countenance quickly souring after the return to his dank, depressing cage.

* * *

"Hey! Hey? _Heeeeey_!" Naruto raged within the dirty confines of the cage. "Let me out of here! Hello! Somebody?" The restless blonde, tired of banging senselessly against the bars of his prison turned about, only to go right back at trying to pulverise the metal bars with his fists out of sheer frustration.

How could he have been so stupid? Naruto barred his teeth in anger and _seethed_ while continuously pounding at the dark metal bars of the cage. Everyone he had ever met – the adults of Konoha at least – had avoided him like the plague because of the fox; his father had given his life because of the fox; his entire _childhood _had been overshadowed by the massive shadow of the damned _fox_… and he had traipsed into its trap like a puppy looking for a treat!

What was it that Kakashi-sensei had said to him, not too long ago? Naruto stopped momentarily to scratch at his spiky blond scalp, face scrunched up in concentration. "_If the trap is obvious, don't fall for it"_… wise words, wise words indeed, but not of much use to him _now _when he had already gone ahead and sprung the bloody thing!

With a snarl, Naruto once again began to bang on the heavy metal bars, hollering insults that echoed eerily in the massive empty cavern of the prison. When he had entered his mindscape the first time round, he had thought the cage to be tiny – the fox had barely enough space to turn about, let alone move freely – but now that the fox was absent, he could see how massive the prison really was.

But that didn't matter, Naruto thought decisively. Even the masses of malevolent, searing chakra circling the cage and heating the bars of the cage couldn't deter the determined blond. _"I'm going to get out of here, and then I'll make sure that this stupid fox never hurts anyone ever again!" _

"Let me out _right now _or I'll…" Fortunately for Naruto, before the blonde could finish his _colourful _threat (that would have earned him a right good smack on the head, courtesy of Iruka-sensei and/or Sakura-chan), the boy felt the world around him distort in an alarming way, the dank, foul cage giving way to murky darkness before he felt himself gain control of his body with a small and alarming "pop".

Although happy to be free from the nasty prison he had been kept in, the usually hyperactive genin felt incredibly tired and achy, as if he'd been chased around Konoha by an enraged Sakura before being mauled to near death.

The sleepy young ninja didn't recognise where he was or how he'd gotten there – all he knew that he wanted to sleep and that he was laying on something incredibly comfortable – so he slept, curling into himself very much like Kyuubi had done before, determined to sort out – whatever it was that had happened – in the morning.

* * *

Zabuza, feeling more than slightly murderous, emerged from his first bout of blissful sleep in _weeks_ due to the sound of hysterical screaming, permeating through his ears. "You!" The blonde boy screeched, pointing at the disorientated ninja with a trembling finger. "Me." Zabuza agreed wearily, rubbing at his aching head with his hand._ "I think I preferred the Kyuubi." _ He thought with a grimace, shooting the gobsmacked genin an evil look.

"How did… where… why?" Naruto shouted, waving his arms about in angered confusion. "WHAT did you DO? You're supposed to be… to be…. You know… dead…?" The blond boy tapered off with a small sound of confusion.

Zabuza, annoyed at the irritating yelling, kept shooting the blond boy aggravated glares. It was enough to snap Naruto out of his self-induced stupor and send him scrambling through his own pockets for a kunai – only to realise that he was still in his pyjamas from the night before.

Giving Zabuza a sheepish smile – who was looking at him with his brow raised, clearly incredulous– Naruto placed his hands into seals that had almost become second nature to him. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He yelled and two identical copies of him leaped into existence with enormous puffs of chakra smoke.

"_So wasteful." _Zabuza sneered in his mind, readying himself to knock the boy out. It would be easy, too. Now that he knew the reason behind the boy's enormous supply of chakra, it was more difficult to take the boy seriously anymore. _"How standards how fallen." _He thought with a huff, a single senbon needle appearing surreptitiously between his fingers.

Although Haku was far more proficient at handling the tricky little weapons than his teacher, Zabuza _had _been the one to introduce the boy to the art in the first place. Hitting a pyjama-clad twelve-year-old would be as easy as anything…

However, he needn't have bothered in the end. A bolt of red energy slammed into the original Naruto's back, causing his eyes to roll backwards and the boy to slump to the floor in a graceless heap. The two clones, alarmed and infuriated, turned around to face the person assaulting them but they felt themselves freeze, their eyes glazing over. Although they lost all control of their limbs, they did not fall – instead, they almost felt like they were _floating_…

"Sleep." Was the brusque command, tearing through their blissful stupor. In order to make the voice shut up, the clones obeyed. Zabuza shot Neko an annoyed look, one of many he had been sporting since waking up barely five minutes prior. It was a wonder that his face didn't heart.

"I could have knocked him out myself, you know." He grumbled. "Where's the toilet?" He asked the blank-eyed wizard who was _staring _at the trio of sleeping blondes with a stunned look on his face.

"I _said, _where's the bloody toi..."

"Go crap in the woods, Zabuza! I'm busy." The wizard ordered briskly, picking up the original Naruto and depositing him on the couch. Zabuza looked gobsmacked. "You don't have a _toilet_?" He asked the annoyed wizard. Neko really didn't seem the type who would traipse about the bushes or forego washing for any period of time. He just seemed… fussy that way.

"Fine, fine… there's a _bathroom_ adjacent to my room, on the left hand side. Just go away." He murmured, poking one of the dozing clones with the tip of his lit wand. He looked like a child who had woken up to discover that Christmas had come early, yet couldn't quite believe it.

"I can't believe… I simply _can't _believe that I could have forgotten about Naruto's clones… this could make things _so _much easier." He murmured feverishly to himself, mentally adjusting his initial plan and seeing what changes would have to be made, and whether it was worth the risk to stray away from his initial plan.

There were many steps to be taken, after all, and this sort of ancient magic didn't really allow for mistakes – which could prove potentially disastrous for everyone involved. And this was _if _you were working in familiar territory – not with the inner workings of a twelve-year-old ninja in an alien world with an angry elemental slash demon sealed away in his tummy.

However, if his calculations were correct – and they usually weren't – Neko could cut out a sizeable portion of the ritual by using Naruto's clones, which in turn would mean that he could save almost an entire week of preparations… which in turn meant that he could have this whole mess ready and done with within a span of twenty-four hours and not the week he had anticipated.

Zabuza, feeling nature's call and feeling slightly weary of the feverishly muttering wizard (who had taken to bustling about the room, tripping over Zabuza's futon and cussing up a storm) had quickly excused himself from the room. Neko didn't notice, or didn't care.

"I'll have to run some tests first, chakra being the unknown factor… I don't know how sturdy these things are, so good thing that there's a spare…" He murmured, running a diagnostic scan after diagnostic scan. "I'll still need a sample though…"

With a look of wild-eyed excitement, the wizard scampered back into his bedroom to grab his tools. Despite his hurry, however, he couldn't help but smile in childish satisfaction when he heard Zabuza's not so subtle cursing emanating from his lavatory.

For all that his bathroom was well furnished (for a tent), it was undeniably old fashioned and its appliances archaic. As a result, they were either completely superfluous, difficult to operate or both. And if you take into consideration the fact that wizards - especially the elder generation - didn't much care for muggle showers, you ended up with a bathing experience that was a little rough on the nerves.

Neko - Callistair? Was that his name now? - couldn't help but wish that the brunette ninja tried to run the bath using the red-rimmed tap. It wouldn't dispense hot water - as one would expect - but a stream of obnoxious fuschia foam that smelt offensively like lavender. Neko _hated _lavender.

* * *

After his less-than pleasant time in the bathroom - _"What the hell are all these knobs for?" _- Zabuza was equal parts fascinated, unnerved, sceptical and nervous. With strict instructions _not _to leave the confines of his tent, the restless ninja could do very little else than to watch the wizard put the world in perilous danger.

While the real Naruto drooled on the couch, using one of his clone's both as a pillow and a blanket, Neko was fervently poking, prodding and examining the remaining clone with feverish intensity, all the time making notes with one hand on a battered notebook.

At least, Zabuza assumed them to be notes – he couldn't read the writing after all – but the odd symbols covering the yellowed pages of the book seemed to be almost like… seals. And the ordering was odd too – it almost seemed like the nutty wizard was writing backwards.

"_He's really going to do it. He's really going to unleash the Kyuubi on the world." _He thought with wry amusement. He had long realised that there was very little he could do to stop the wizard – so he chose not to trouble himself with the matter. It was how he'd survived all these years more or less sane – not bothering himself with things he couldn't change.

"_But why the interest in the clone?" _He wondered. Neko had almost completely ignored the original body, slumbering away in a deep, 'magic' induced sleep, while Neko was, of all things, trying to pour water down a clone's throat and dancing excitedly when the water hadn't duly emerged but stayed within the clone.

* * *

Neko, having inadvertently 'popped' the first clone when he had tried to determine how sturdy the chakra construct really was, looked on the remaining one with startling intensity. Luckily for him, Naruto – in a rare show of insight – hadn't produced a large amount of clones due to being indoors.

This meant that the two clones – _one _clone, Neko corrected himself – had at least a third of the boy's massive chakra stores, meaning that it was very quite durable – and exactly what he needed.

He had, after adjusting his initial calculations, devised a way to make his new plan work with minimal risk. And it _would _work, too – the butterflies tittering about his belly were a sure sign of it!

The only thing left to do was the actual preparations – he had _most _of the things he would need – masses of ink first and foremost – but the potion that he would need to use – alongside wand-magic of course - was slightly trickier.

Neko had a lot of the more common potions pre-made and stored away within the confines of his ring, but this potion was slightly trickier than most and, as such things tended to happen in life, he didn't have it in stock.

Thankfully, however, the potion – while tricky to prepare – didn't have a ridiculously long preparatory period and the majority of the ingredients could be found in his stores. Thus, the ghastly-smelling potion was currently bubbling away in one of his self-stirring cauldrons in the kitchen.

He was, however, missing one vital ingredient that put the whole project in jeopardy. While this particular… ingredient… wasn't something he could have – in good conscience – brought with him when he packed, it still irked him something fierce.

Because it meant that he would have to resort to something that all but spat on all of his fiercely self-enforced principles that he had sustained throughout his life in the Barrier – never to harm somebody else while pursuing a selfish goal.

With dread curling about his stomach, Neko decided to persevere. He would cross all snake-pits and burning bridges when it came to it. With a sigh, the young wizard uncorked a fresh pot of special, magic-conducting ink and dipped the tip of a fine-haired brush in the midnight-coloured liquid.

He had a hell of a lot of runes to draw.

* * *

When Zabuza had – after much incessant poking on his part – managed to secure some time _outside _of the tent, the harassed looking wizard had all but pushed the ninja out of the tent with strict instructions to exercise proper caution. Well, his exact words had been _"don't f**k things up"_, but Zabuza decided that the short-fused wizard (who was up to his elbows in ink) had meant the former.

Annoyed but resigned, having grown alarmingly accustomed to the oddball wizard ordering him about like an Academy brat, the brunette ninja went tearing through the thickly overgrown forest of Wave, trying to exercise some of the pent up frustration that had built up in his usually active ninja.

It was a rather nice night, all things considered – it was incredibly dark, the new moon casting almost no light whatsoever through the thick foliage and it was quite wet and slippery to boot, but the air was nice and warm, the silence was blissful and _good god_, did Zabuza want to punch something.

And to his utter delight, he got his wish soon enough. In his hasty tear through the forest, he had "accidently" stumbled upon the clearing where he knew Tazuna the Bridge-Builder lived with his small family. Although he couldn't _see _the house – Neko had warned him that this might be the case – he could orientate well enough to know that there was only a short trek through the forest separating him from his former target.

But this was not what had caused his happiness – it was the fact that, sitting in a nearby bush, utterly drenched from dew and looking wretched, was none other than Shōsan Abura.

Zabuza could feel his lips stretch taunt in a rare show of genuine amusement, although an impartial observer would describe it more as "feral" than "happy". For the ANBU elite, sneaking up on the miserable civilian was laughably easy and he did so, until he was standing a hair's breadth away from the cursing man who was quietly bemoaning his fate and the state of his trousers.

Shōsan Abura was one of Gatou's most ardent supporters and his most keen employee – his brownnosing was so legendary that some had even placed bets on how long it would take before he disappeared the fat man's enormous backside entirely.

This in itself was enough reason for most to be wary of him, but Zabuza had personal reasons to be… irked by the man. First and foremost was his incredibly ostentatious behaviour – being the grand-nephew of a bastard son of a minor noble, Abura thought himself well and above most of the petty thieves in Gatou's employment, and considered rogue-ninja to be no different.

Of course, not many people that had personally met Zabuza had the courage to say anything derogatory about the man while in his presence – Gatou was an incredibly foolish exception, and he had paid for that folly when Haku had snapped the man's arm like a twig.

Abura however, had a nasty habit of trying to undermine those that posed a threat to him in other, more underhanded means. Such as trying to convince his employer to betray a certain ninja and not pay him his well-deserved fee.

And while the shinobi in Zabuza wholeheartedly approved of such tactics, it was a whole different kettle of fish when this sort of meddling was aimed at _him._ However, now that he no longer had to even pretend to be cordial with Gatou, he could have a little spot of revenge.

With a feral grin that would have made his once fellow-swordsman Kisame proud, he tapped the oblivious man on the shoulder, causing him to squeak and clutch at his heart, his chest heaving while his cowardly eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Mo… Momochi… what are you _doing _here?" He wheezed, rubbing his chest wearily. "Gatou is incredibly displeased with you nin…" He began imperiously, but was quickly interrupted by the still grinning Zabuza. "Oh, he's _displeased_, is he?" He taunted the (much) shorter man. Although it was nearly pitch-black outside, the frightened man could still see enough of the ninja and the expression he was sporting to feel worried.

"I'm sure he's quite displeased at me, and with very good reason too." Zabuza continued, not bothering to lower his voice while the dark-haired civilian desperately tried to make him quiet down, casting nervous glances towards the clearing where Tazuna's house was located.

"But it would appear that I'm not the only one he's got a grudge for, eh, Abura?" The man grimaced at the familiar – and disrespectful – means of address that the ninja was using, but for once, not daring to speak out.

"Doing grunt work now?" He smirked, throwing his arm about to indicate Abura's less than comfortable hiding space in the bushes. "What better way to get the dregs out of the way than to send them out in the middle of the night to spy on a house which is clearly uninhabited."

Spluttering, Abura tried to protest such ridiculous claims waged against his person, but never got the chance to, for Zabuza reared back his fist, the motion so familiar to him that it took almost no concentration whatsoever - and planted it straight into the surprised man's nose. He could feel the delicate cartilage break under the force of the hit and the man was sent barrelling into the forest with a pained cry.

It was not his most powerful punch, not by a long shot – he didn't even need chakra to take the man's head clear off his shoulders with a single hit – but he still felt oddly proud to see the man fly off from the impact. In fact, he estimated that he might have sent the man flying a good twenty feet, if an annoying acacia bush hadn't gotten in the way.

And technically, he wasn't even doing anything wrong – hadn't the wizard stated that he couldn't harm the bridge builder in any way? In fact, by punching out this rat-faced little spy, he was even _helping _Tazuna. It might even warrant an increase in pay.

His biggest reward, however, was that the man's whiny yelping seemed to have aroused the occupants of the seemingly dark house, for soon enough, an irritated Hatake Kakashi – who seemed to have badly torn his shirt on one side, that slob - materialised from the darkness to stand before him, far too controlled to show shock but still clearly surprised to see him standing there. Not that you could tell much from one perpetually bored-looking eye.

"Momochi Zabuza… the man who just simply refuses to die, no matter how many times he's beaten." The silver-haired man said coolly, his stance relaxed and his hands tucked away into the pockets of his navy-coloured trousers.

Angry (but in a good, satisfying and _familiar_ way), Zabuza stared intently at the jounin-level elite – and then turned tail and ran, smirking when he felt the annoyed Konoha ninja stand still for a fraction of a second – clearly in surprise, even if the man would never admit it – before giving chase.

_"Try to catch me now, fucker."_ Zabuza thought with glee. He was sick of being bullied by teenagers and demons – he wanted to have a spot of fun by bothering someone a little closer to his usual range of opponents.

And what a chase it was! While Hatake Kakashi clearly had spades of experience in tracking – especially in forested areas – this was still Zabuza's home turf and he had little difficulty in keeping ahead of the silver-haired ninja whom he could tell was swiftly growing annoyed.

Whether it was because of an injury or some sorts (Zabuza could tell that the man was slightly – ever so slightly – favouring his right side) or some other reluctance keeping him back, but the Konoha shinobi seemed more preoccupied with chasing Zabuza _away _from Tazuna's home than trying to apprehend the rogue ninja.

Having caught on to this, the Mist ninja made sure to never stray _too _far away from the clearing and kept turning back whenever he felt he had run too far. Perplexed, suspicious (and pissed off), the Konoha nin had eventually been forced to use his summons to try and apprehend the rogue ninja.

Not having slept for almost two days in a row (and having nearly been gutted by Kyuubi No Yoko), the Leaf jounin was weary, had limited stores of chakra and was quickly growing angry, his physical state and worry for his missing block-headed student only fuelling his ire.

Zabuza, having felt the gradual increase in killing intent radiating from his opponent, only grinned in response.

* * *

It was nearly dawn when Zabuza – tired but smug – had returned to the small inconspicuous tent housing a crazy wizard, an annoying genin and a violent demon.

While he still wasn't happy with being ordered about by an annoying little brat (whom he suspected wasn't quite right in the head) and likely never would be, he had come to accept the situation – for now – with the understanding that he would act when there was _something _that he could do. For now, he could only wait – as it was, there was a futon somewhere with his name on it, and the food – while foreign and fatty – was quite good and better yet, _free. _

However, when Zabuza had lifted the brown piece of canvas masquerading as a door and descended down the wooden staircase, the sight of the living room made him pause and wonder whether or not he had entered the right tent.

Every square inch of the bow barren room was covered in odd symbols that seemed to bear no resemblance whatsoever to any form of writing he had seen before. The walls, the ceiling, the floor – even the wizard himself, who was gingerly blowing on his ink covered arms – was covered in the odd script.

And to make the whole scene even weirder, in the middle of the room, lying on two separate marble slabs (_"Where the hell had those come from?") _were Naruto and one of his clones, both still dressed in their pyjamas, even though Zabuza could tell from the symbols peeking out from under the boy's collar that they too, were covered in ink.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zabuza inquired, somewhat weary of hearing an actual response. The wizard ignored his question and instead, gave him a cheerful – if tired – smile. It was obvious that the boy had been up all night inking the odd marks unto everything he could reach.

"There you are! I was wondering when you'd come back. I need you to check something for me." With a wearied sigh, Zabuza gingerly stepped on the floor, weary of disrupting the inked symbols and made his way over to the bleary-eyed wizard.

"_Me thinks that the s**t is about to hit the fan…"_

* * *

**AN: **Despite what you might believe, I'm not actually dead - and if I am, then I'm certainly very animated! I'm sorry for making you wait so long, only to spring another filler on you (there is a _little _bit of story development in there... somewhere...) but at least I managed to get my muse going again.^,^

On the downside, I've managed to confuse myself with my own timeline and I might have to come back later and try to fix it up as much as I can... and while I try to proofread as much as possible, I might still end up coming back later to try to fix it up a little... bad practice, I know, but I can't seem to help it.

Massive thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, despite how incredibly slow it's going. *sad cow eyes* You make me motivated to keep at this story and are generally, awesome beyond belief. ;P

In the next chapter: Kyuubi no Yoko (aka Kurama) goes free! But at what cost? Tun-dun-duuun...

I think I replied to everyone's reviews, but if I missed someone, it's because I'm a scatterbrained idiot and I have to get up in four hours. XD

**Ruby2360: **I'll take that as a good thing. ^.^

**hentai18ancilla: **I can't even _begin _to imagine what Kyuubi's reaction would be to the knowledge that Zabuza uses (or has been given) the moniker of "demon". Would probably laugh like he'd never laughed before in all of his lifetime. XD

And I quite like the idea of Kyuubi being forced to become friends with someone. ^.^ It would do him good, that's for sure.

**Melkijad**: Oh, absolutely. I've decided that by tweaking the story a little bit (making it into a _large _asteroid orbiting _close _to the surface of the Earth (?) ) I could probably make it _kind _of work… because although it is technically canon, there is no way that the Sage could have made something the size of the bloody moon and not destroyed the rest of the planet in the process.

However, if you think that _this _is wacky, what about Tobi's idea of using the moon to reflect his Sharingan and simultaneously enslave the entire population of the planet? Once again, not particularly reasonable… or feasible. ;)

**GoldenRat**: Should be soon! ^.^ Thanks for the review.

**CrescentMelody**: So do I! That's why I decided to fast-forward the action a little bit… I want to get them moving already! XD

**sumwhriblong: **He's going to be a very sad panda indeed. ;)

**Reader-anonymous: **Hehe… all will be revealed. ;) But yes, it is an issue that will come up.

**Salamanderzrock: **Neko's need-to-know chapter! ^.^

**Zealot of Reading: **Thank you kindly. ^.^ But I am aware of the fact that this fic is really slow moving… really trying to kick it into speed. XD

**BlueMirage: **I shall take it as a compliment… even if it isn't. XD

**Teucrian: **Thanks… although that's probably due to the heavy editing I've been doing lately. XD

**Dainlord: **It's nice to know that you don't suck. XD Thanks.

**Twigon Halolover: **Hole in one… kind of. XD But that is pretty close. Kudos for you!


	19. Chapter 20

~ Chapter 20 ~

* * *

The once familiar room was now almost completely unrecognisable. Where it was once cluttered and dimly lit, with heavy dark furnishings, archaic carpets and bookshelves crammed full of books and odd artefacts, it was now almost entirely bereft of any furniture, decoration or even colour.

And the change wasn't exactly an improvement. For a moment, Zabuza wondered if he had taken a wrong turn somewhere in the drug-induced nightmare his life had become and ended up in some sort of stone-age morgue.

As impossible as it seemed, the entire room - which, as Zabuza reminded himself, was inside a _canvas __tent_ - seemed to be carved out of a monolithic stone block, as his sharp eyes couldn't spot a single seam anywhere that would suggest that the rock had been plastered on an existing structure.

The walls, the floor, even the ceiling were all in a monotonous shade of dirty white, interrupted only by the liberal quantities of wetly-gleaming ink that Neko had unleashed upon the walls in the form of odd, recurring symbols that the brunette ninja had never seen before.

There were no doors anywhere, no source of lighting - even though the room was almost obscenely bright - and the only living being in the entire structure was a weary looking Neko, who was leaning against an odd table-like fixture that seemed to have grown straight out of the floor. It had an identical twin that stood further down the room, closer to the wall.

"You're back. Excellent."

The ninja, whose attention had been monopolised by the mass of symbols lining every available surface in the room, shifted his attention to the wizard who was gingerly flexing his fingers and wrists.

Zabuza took a moment to mull on his answer. "This is certainly an... interesting... change," he murmured, eying the wizard warily, unsure of this new development. Really, he should have been used to these sorts of surprises by now. The ninja didn't think that the younger looking teen had much experience in _not _being bizarre. And if you considered some of the people he'd had to work with over the years...

"It's for the spell," Neko interrupted Zabuza's thoughts, all the while alternatively kneading his wrists. Although the description was rather Spartan, Zabuza didn't need to be told who exactly 'the spell' was for. Kyuubi's crusade for freedom wasn't something that would easily just slip one's mind.

"You see, it's very sensitive, this spell." the wizard explained. "Any magic - or anything containing magic - was a possible contaminator, and this isn't a spell you can afford to get wrong, and walk away from." Most of the spells Neko knew were like that, really, which more or less explained his reluctance to experiment much in magic. He was certainly no Dumbledore or Marchbanks, after all.

"Hence the redocaration?" The ninja asked, suspiciously eyeing the inked characters that now dominated the room. He knew just enough about sealing to know how dangerous and complicated the art was. He tried not to stand on any of the marks, but it was a futile endeavour. They were pretty much _everywhere, _arranged in neat parrallel rows everywhere but the center of the room, where they formed an oblong circle.

"Hence the redecoration." Neko agreed with a wan smile. "Of course, once I've cleared the room of residual magic - at least, as much as possible without cancelling the spell that keeps the tent together - I couldn't use anymore spells, or risk mucking up the whole thing. So, I had to draw the runes by hand, with a stepladder." He said, wriggling his aching fingers with a chuckle.

"Runes?" The ninja frowned. "What are these 'runes' anyway? They don't look like the writing in your books."

"That's because they're not." Neko agreed. Tiredness had a mellowing effect on his character, it would seem. He did look vaguelly surprised that Zabuza had bothered to look through his books though. "These are called _futhark _- the ancient Norse runes, one of the oldest forms of writing in Europe. They're a bit outdated - nobody really uses this particular form anymore, there are more modern variations - but they're a sturdy and reliable way of channelling magic, even if they _are_ a bit inflexible."

The wizard explained, until a yawn interrupted him. Zabuza wasn't entirely sure _why _he was asking such things - certainly he wanted as little to do with the whole thing as was humanly possible - but he found that useless chattering was a good way of taking your mind off things you didn't want to think about, such as the impending release of Kyuubi.

This particular habit of this - at least, when there was no suitable supply of alcohol neaby - had earned him many a smack on the back of the head by his elder peers when he was still working for the Mist.

"That reminds me…" Neko addressed Zabuza. "I will really need your help with something. It's not dangerous." He added hastily when the brunette narrowed his eyes in distaste. "And I'll pay you for it. But it's not something… that I can really do."

Without elaborating, Neko turned on his heel and disappeared through the solid stone wall where the symbols – runes – seemed to be sparser than anywhere else in the room.

When he returned moments later, he was carrying something small, skinny and dressed in obnoxious orange pyjamas, with a mop of golden spiky hair standing out against Neko's own rather dull clothing. Neko had shed his usually omnipresent cloak - which was riddled with magic - in favour of a dark shirt and trousers that made him seem pale, scrawny and vaguelly ill, as the dark circles around his eyes had became more apparent than ever.

The wizard gingerly laid out the unconscious blond boy across one of the stone slabs, arranging the preadolescent's awkward skinny limbs in some semblance of an order before stepping back.

The blond boy remained motionless, only the shallow rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was even alive. While the stone slab looked nothing if not uncomfortable, anyone who had seen the blond boy asleep would know that it would take much more than a bit of discomfort to wake the kid up.

* * *

Neko was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the whole affair. Without Naruto's customary puffy jacket, baggy pants and larger-than-life personality, the boy seemed so… _small_. In his orange pyjamas, Naruto looked like your typical twelve-year-old boy, if a particularly short and scrawny one. Nothing like a ninja in training, and certainly nothing like the adult he was supposed to be according to the local law.

And it was first and foremost _Naruto's _life that was on the line should he fail. Neko had no problem risking with his own, Kyuubi was desperate for his freedom but Naruto... he had so much that he wanted to do with his young life.

The wizard felt his chest constrict with guilt and felt absolutely rotten for putting the boy through the ordeal. Nevertheless, he carefully pulled up the hem of the boy's flannel pyjama top until Naruto's unmarred chest and stomach came into view.

Neko promptly dipped his brush in the severely depleted pot of ink and began to print several of the runic symbols over the boy's heart and stomach and left those to dry while he popped open another bottle of magic-conducting ink.

When the wizard began to draw – in his usual neat print – several runes on the boy's forehead, he was interrupted by Zabuza's gruff voice.

"What happened to the kid's face?"

Neko, somewhat startled, looked down to the blond boy's tanned cheeks and noticed that they were, indeed, unmarred by the whisker-like marks that set him apart from his peers.

"I'd forgotten about those." Neko admitted, clearly embarrassed by such an oversight. The wizard felt rather glad that Kyuubi was not here to witness this – he doubted that the demon would feel much confidence in the whole process if he were here.

"But it's nothing serious - they were only birthmarks, after all."

The stoic man raised his almost non-existent brow in curiosity but did not vocalise the unspoken question. Neko, for his part, didn't offer any explanations but turned on his heels – Naruto's runes now complete and dry – and once again disappeared through the section of the wall free of runes.

When the wizard returned, he was cradling another small body in his arms – with the same eye-burning orange pyjamas, blond spiky hair and drool running down the corner of his mouth as the one already drawn on by Neko. The only differences were the three perpendicular lines that marred each cheek.

The ninja gazed down sharply at the first boy – his forehead marked with ink and his pyjamas pulled down to hide the characters hidden underneath – and took careful note of the boy's slow, deep breaths and the flitter of a pulse in the boy's jugular.

Meanwhile, Neko was carefully arranging the other prone little body on the remaining free stone slab, before taking out his customary brush and ink with a tired sigh.

With a frown, the older ninja marched over to the new arrival and pressed his two middle fingers to the side of the boy's neck. Under the thin, warm skin of the boy's neck he could undeniably feel a strong, regular pulse; albeit somewhat slower than you would expect if the boy had been awake.

Frowning even deeper, Zabuza turned around and grabbed the wrist of the whisker-free boy – although the pulse was slower than the new arrival's and somewhat irregular, it was undeniably there.

"What is this?"

Neko, who was watching the rogue ninja with an oddly evaluative look in his eyes, paused momentarily before giving him his answer. "It's… well, it's Naruto. After a fashion," he added.

Before Neko could even blink, a kunai appeared in the brunette ninja's hand and he swiftly cut down. Neko shouted in protest and hurried over, his worn wand appearing between his fingers.

However, to Neko's immediate and apparent relief, the extent of the boy's injuries was a single, shallow cut – nothing but a scrape, really – that nonetheless had almost given him a heart-attack. If the blood had spilt on the runes below...

"What the hell are you doing?" He hissed venomously, dabbing at the shallow wound with a napkin that he had pulled out from one of his numerous pockets. Although the wound was entirely superficial and was already scabbing over, Neko felt that he was justified in feeling worried. Had Zabuza gone _mad_?

"Clones don't bleed." Zabuza spoke behind Neko, his tone flat. "Clones don't breathe, and they certainly don't have heartbeats. I'm pretty sure Naruto doesn't have a twin – _one_ Naruto is a bit of a stretch on the nerves – but this clearly isn't a clone. What is it?"

Neko, who had dabbed a small bit of antiseptic on the sluggishly bleeding cut, whirled around, his tired face sporting an angry frown. "I told you aleady, tt _is _a clone, you dimwit." He snarled. "One that I spent a _lot _of effort on, so please try to restrain your homicidal tendencies."

Zabuza was staring at him, oddly intent, so Neko gave in with a sigh and explained while not so subtly steering the ninja away from the two boys. "This _was _originally Naruto's remaining chakra clone. However, using magic, as well as samples from the original body, I've managed to make an identical flesh and blood clone of Naruto.

Zabuza's nonexistent brows shot up to his hairline. "That is…" he trailed off, uncharacteristically uncertain. While it was certainly an impressive feat, surprisingly so (a quick glance at the wizard reassured Zabuza that the boy was NOT listening in on his thoughts), it was also a worrying one. He suddenly made a resolution to keep Neko's paws off any of his own bodily fluids.

"Don't look so worried, you're safe. One copy of you is more than enough for me, thank you." Neko said with an amused snort. "It's mostly a useless skill, anyway." Neko said with a sigh. "It takes a long time, is ridiculously complicated and only useful in a handful of situations. If I hadn't had Naruto's ready made clone, I probably wouldn't have bothered to do this."

"Surely, the ability to make an identical flesh and blood copy – even if it takes a while – isn't _useless." _Zabuza argued. He could most certainly find uses for it!

"Well, unless you're dying from organ failure and need a donor, then no, it isn't. But otherwise…" Neko rubbing at his aching eyes with a tired hand.

"Look, I think you're misunderstanding something. This isn't a clone in the way you're used to thinking about clones, because this isn't a chakra construct anymore. It doesn't just _look _like him anymore – it _is _Naruto, they're genetically completely identical. Except for one big difference."

Neko ambled over to the resting body of the smooth-cheeked Naruto – now identified as the clone – and gingerly lifted up one of its eyelids. The iris underneath was the same vivid blue as the original's, but it was unresponsive and almost dead in its expression. Suddenly, it didn't look as if it was merely asleep anymore.

The tip of Neko's wand lit up in an iridescent glow, shining bright even in the obscenely white room of the tent but when the wizard waved the wand across the boy's field of vision, the clone's irises remained completely unresponsive.

"_This _Naruto has no consciousness – it has no memories, no emotions, nothing. The medical term would be "brain-dead", but even that is misleading. The brain is perfectly fine – there is simply no soul in there. If I had to explain it in terms of chakra, I'm guessing that he has physical energy - it's keeping him alive, I haven't cast any more spells on him - but not spiritual, which is why he can't wake up from his coma-like state.

"Did you say he had no _soul_?"

"Don't look at me like that, I'm serious. It's actually not that shocking as it would seem. As it happens, in my original world there is no death penalty, but no shortage of dangerous magic-wielding criminals. Instead of killing them - because that would be 'cruel', the criminals would have their souls devoured by creatures called Dementors – they would be technically 'alive' but completely immobilised in every way."

Putting his wand away, Neko used the blood-sullied napkin to wipe away some of the drool that had accumulated in the corner of the clone's mouth. "It's rather odd, considering that it would've been less cruel to just let them die."

"But why did you go through all that trouble, if the clones are so useless?"

A decidedly mischievous look appeared in Neko's eyes, shining bright in his otherwise tired and drawn face. "Well, can't you work it out for yourself?"

Seeing that Zabuza looked less than amused, the wizard gave in with an impatient sigh.

"Look... here we have a body that is perfectly functional - better than the original even, I might have tampered a little - but it's lacking a soul. It's no more than an empty container."

Suddenly, Zabuza understood. And he didn't feel happy at all. Neko, unperturbed, continued on.

"Here, however," Neko motioned, indicating poor unsuspecting Naruto, "is a passable body, but containing one soul too many. I think you can work it out from there."

Zabuza could only stare, wishing he had something containing alcohol in his hand.

* * *

Kyuubi, for all of his rotten mood and phantom-bone wrenching pain could not stand still. The cage was far too small for him to do much more than pace in an incredibly small circle, but he couldn't bear to stand still.

Something was happening; he could feel it in his very tails.

However, with no means to either hinder or help, all he could do was pace restlessly while the spiral seal marking his imprisonment shone black and clear on Naruto's stomach.

* * *

"However, there's a problem."

_"Of course there is." _Zabuza thought glumly.

"And that's where you come in. I said I'd pay you, remember?"

Zabuza did not appear reassured in any way, but Neko ("_Callistair_", he reminded himself) soldiered on nonetheless.

"There's only one failsafe way to sever a soul from its body, and that's by death. However, for obvious reasons, I can't kill Naruto."

"Why the fuck not?" Zabuza asked sourly. "It would save everyone a whole lot of grief."

"Aren't you the noble one? No, I mean, I _can't _kill Naruto – it would either kill Kyuubi or set him free to do as he pleases – judging from what he said earlier, I'm guessing the former, although both options would probably be disastrous for me."

"If they can't be killed, what do you need me for?"

"Well, in the original ritual you would use a potion – a really nasty one, too – that would trick the body into thinking that it has died, thus releasing the spirit without actually killing anyone. However, I don't have the ingredients for that potion..."

"What are the ingredients?"

"… Well, it involves babies, organs and time-travel but that's as far as I'm going to say."

"Time tra…?"

"However, because there are something things I simply _refuse _to do – or pay for, mind you – I've had to find an alternative. I need…" Neko took a deep trembling breath.

"A human sacrifice."

* * *

Scowling, Inari continued to mix the thick soup with his wooden spoon, tottering unsteadily on the wooden chair he had to use to even _reach _the pot. While it was far from uncommon for Inari to be in a bad mood, he had an actual _reason _to be scowling for once. Namely, the dumb ninja that were staying in his house.

Naruto had been missing for several days now, and the ninja had yet to give up looking for him. While Inari could sympathise with Team 7 – he _may _have sort of missed Naruto too – he didn't appreciate their insinuations that it was somehow Neko's fault!

True, the golden-eyed feline had made himself scarce lately – sans deliveries of food that would mysteriously appear on their doorstep – and he had yet to talk to him in several days, but…

_Why _would Neko kidnap Naruto? It made no sense! And grandpa said that Neko – who apparently was a lot younger than Inari had suspected – had saved his life _again_, on the day that Naruto went missing, although the gossipy old alcoholic was unusually wary about talking of the incident.

_"So they should just shut up." _Inari scowled, sending Team 7's instructor – who was reading his trashy book at the table – a dirty look. The man - while seemingly puzzled by the sudden bout of hostility - shrugged it off readily enough and went back to reading.

* * *

"So, how many do you need?" Zabuza asked casually, placing his hands in the pockets of his cow-coloured trousers. Neko, however, almost choked on his own tongue when he heard the ninja's blasé tone.

"One!" He yelped, his voice taking on an embarrassingly high pitch. He cleared his throat hurriedly before continuing on with a more normal tone. "Merlin..just… just _one." _

"And you need me to get the sorry bastard that you're going to sacrifice." Zabuza mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. In truth, he was calculating how much he could get paid for this.

Neko, sensing where the conversation was headnig to, spoke with a resigned sigh "Yes. I'll pay you double to what I've already given you." The ninja seemed to become perkier by the minute. _This _was a conversation he was more or less familiar with.

"I see… just anyone, then?"

"Not anyone that I would want dead. And they would have to be alive." Neko amended.

Without another word, Zabuza turned on his heel and stalked out of the creepy rune-covered room. Before he could disappear through the canvas flap – which looked incredibly odd in the monochrome room – he heard Neko's scratchy adolescent voice ring out behind him.

"_Not _Hatake, Tazuna or anyone else I know!"

Although Zabuza made no reply to the comment, the annoyed twitch in his shoulders was more than obvious, even to a casual observer.

* * *

Neko could only stare, his golden-gray eyes widening in an almost comical manner while his sensitive ears – courtesy of his animagus form – were ringing painfully from swine-like squeals that were emitted by his current source of morbid fascination.

The man was portly and short, sporting an almost afro-like head of sandy-blonde hair and an almost unnoticeable dusting of facial hair beneath his rather prominent nose.

His left arm appeared to be broken and wrapped in several layers of bandages and was, no doubt, painful, but not nearly as painful as Zabuza's iron-like grip on the man's hair, making his feet dangle several inches above the stone floor.

Though initially the man's screeching seemed like nothing but incomprehensible nonsense (especially to Neko, who wasn't exactly an expert in the language), if you listened closely you could pick out a plethora of profanity, threats and pleads to be let down. The wizard, snapping out of his shock-induced state of immobality, leaped at the brunette ninja's outstretched arm.

"For Circe's sake, Zabuza, let the man _down."_

He demanded, hanging off the ninja's burly arm. Zabuza, however, seemed to have no trouble holding up both the wildly kicking adult or the scrawny teenager, who had himself begun to swear, albeit in a language the nin didn't recognise.

"I believe I haven't introduced the two of you."

"Let me go, you baboon's arse, you two-faced, indecisive disease ridden horny toad!"

"Put him down right now, I mean it!"

Zabuza, seemingly unaffected by the torrent of insults hurled at him, just smiled. "Neko, I would like you to meet my former employer, Gatou-san."

The portly man, despite his pain, stopped as soon as he heard the name "Neko", and shifted his narrow, calculating eyes to the brown-haired teenager, who himself had gone curiously still.

"Gatou?"

"Yes."

"_That_... Gatou?"

"The very same."

"... you're going to ask for a bonus, aren't you?"

"Well, I do think I deserve one. It was only _slightly _easy to sneak into his poorly-guarded home."

With a resigned sigh, Neko let go of the older man's arm - feeling more than a little embarrased - and smoothed down his wrinkled shirt. Suddenly, the portly man - now identified as Gatou - whose eyes never left Neko's, screamed out at the bemused ninja.

"Kill him!" He yelled, grasping at his hair with his remaining good arm while his eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets in his fury "Kill him, kill him! I'll forgive you for trangression, I'll pay you triple what he's paying, just _kill _him!"

"While that does seem like a tempting offer, I'll have to decline." The ninja replied smoothly. Abruptly, he let go of the man's hair but before Gatou's feet could touch the ground, Zabuza's arm shot out with the blunt end of the kunai that connected with the base of the man's skull with an audible thud. The stout man collapsed at the ninja's feet and remained silent and still.

Neko, after staring at the crumpled form of the business tycoon, lifted his eyes to meet Zabuza's smirking ones. "This whole affair," he said with a resigned sigh, rubbing at his face with an aching wrist, "is beginning to become incredibly troublesome."

* * *

**A/N: **Hey guys! I've made an update, and it didn't take me six months this time! I'm actually proud of myself... even though I'm doing this while I have coursework due tomorrow.

Anyway, thanks a lot to those who've read my story! Unfortunately, for some reason my chapter 7 went belly-up and had to be removed, so my chapter-count is kind of knocked off balance a little, but hopefully that's not too much of an issue.

And finally, something is _sort _of beginning to happen! Next chapter, Kyuubi finally sees something happening!

Any criticisms, suggestions and plain old "what the hell, the timeline is completely whacked" are more than welcome!

I've sort of thought about getting a beta - god knows I need it - but my irregular posting would probably annoy most beta readers. Anyway, I hope you like it and if you don't... tell me why!

Sincerely,

~ Monkey in a Jump Suit


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